Earlier in October of this year Michigan State University had Hitler on their Jumbotron during their trivia pregame. This, offended a lot of people, even though the context was for a game, it was seen as insensitive to project a picture of a fascist on a huge screen. Since then, Michigan State has personally apologized for the incident and has suspended an employee who displayed such an image.
The photo was shown during the pregame trivia quiz that Spartan Stadium holds during each game. The picture in question came from a YouTube page. The question asked where the Nazi leader was born. This incident was especially insensitive to some people as there’s heightened tension in Israel. Jewish communities are already facing antisemitism, projecting the image of a man who committed genocide toward their community opens old wounds. The statement given by Michigan State was, “We are deeply sorry for the offensive image we displayed on the Spartan State video board Saturday night.”
Athletic Director Alan Holler, also stated that an employee was suspended with pay while the department investigates the situation at hand. There is also tension from the question being plagiarized out of the YouTube channel as the owner of the channel stated there was no permission from Michigan State to use the content at Spartan Stadium. This is a major deal as Michigan State is one of the top college football programs in the country and at this current time it is essential for people to stand and support Israel and the Jewish community as they’re going through a very hard time. This could become a bigger issue for Michigan State if they do not resolve it soon, as the world may perceive them to be anti-Semitic and offensive to people in the Jewish community.
In conclusion, the employee is still suspended and Michigan State has not released anymore information regarding the situation. However, the team finished the season with a 4-8 record, placing them closer to the bottom of the B10(Big Ten) conference. This finish is subpar for the Spartans, as they are usually top contenders in the conference. Rumors have beebn circulating that there will be a change in coaching over the off-season.
Hopefully all the extra drama and controversial comments and happenings ow over. There is no place for hate in the world regarding the state we are in, and I feel we all need to come together as a whole. People should also be more aware of what is happening, and what they put into their content, especially when its put on display for the public to see on such a grand scale.
