OSU School spirit called into question

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Story Published: Oct 25, 2007 at 5:39 PM PDT

By Meghan Kalkstein

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Corvallis - It may be a case of school spirit gone too far at a Oregon State University football game, as actions by a few students, is now being seen by some, as an act of racism.

Student Casey Grogan say's he started the original campaign, he called it "black out Reser." We have decided to show you the pictures from this football game, but warn, you may find them offensive.

When O.S.U. took the field on October sixth to play Arizona, some students decided to dress in all black to show their support. It was an idea started by Grogan on the social networking site Facebook. But an article also ran in the school newspaper urging students to dress in black from head to toe, and even paint their faces black as a visual display of support for the school.

Student's at the Black Cultural Center say these students may have tried to show school spirit, but a few took it too far.

"Some students came in black face with Afros. So you can't tell me that you're ignorant to what you're doing when you just put on an Afro, I mean why would they do that? I don't like that. If you want to be honest you put on that Afro because you're correlating the black face and the black paint on your face, to black skin," says student Joakina Mode.

Mode say's students may not have realized the historical connotation with these images. "I've heard about it but I didn't know people took it so offensively," says Freshman Nicole Pitassi. "I didn't know people took it offensively at all actually," says Freshman Haley Wanker.

We found another Facebook group organizing a blackout for this weekend's game. But Grogan say's he didn't mean any harm by the initial campaign, and is not involved in this weekend's blackout.

University officials also say they are taking every opportunity to talk with students on campus about racial stereotyping and sensitivity.

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