By Henry Zimmerman, @hwzimmerman
Ames, Ia. – A student protestor interrupted Iowa State President Steven Leath’s speech today at the 2017 Iowa State Conference on Race and Ethnicity. The protestor criticized Leath and his administration about their dealings with underrepresented individuals on campus and Leath’s actions regarding the university’s plane. Leath and ISCORE workers allowed the student to finish her statement uninterrupted.
“You have not publicly advocated for documented, muslim, trans and non-binary and the students from the seven banned countries”, said the protestor. The protestor accused Leath of being “complicit in a system that legalizes and defends homophobia and transphobia, and inflicts upon people’s bodily autonomy.”
The protestor ended their remarks towards Leath by saying that he has put the safety of students at risk, ultimately calling him a racist.
The protestor then turned their attention to the audience at ISCORE, calling for attendees to “show solidarity” by leaving the conference hall for the remainder of Leath’s speech. Approximately 40-50 attendees left with the protestor following her speech.
After Leath’s speech, those that left the conference returned and the conference continued as planned.
