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Alumni Committee Dissolved

Actually, the Register fired the kid that wrote that story. Which I don't think was the right thing to do. But I don't want to get into that old story. I don't want anyone fired. I just want to have people actually do a good job reporting. Do your homework, include multiple sides. Don't rush to print something that isn't finished. Don't sensationalize by writing a clickbait headline. Just report it and let people make up their own minds.
In the Carson King saga, the Register was not trying to cancel him. Intent matters. The Register story in question was over 1,500 words celebrating King and mentioned the tweets he had sent years earlier near the end of it. The Register also contacted King about the tweets directly so he could respond and he said he'd grown up and that's not who he is at heart and today. If there had been a concerted effort by the Register to cancel that guy, they would have promoted the tweets in the story lead, headlines, social media language, etc., and never given the guy a chance to defend himself. They did none of that. Now, should the Register have bothered to mention the tweets at all? No, probably not. And in the end, the Register fired its reporter for his own sketchy social media comments. There were real consequences.

The King story and what the Register did is nothing like the Gazette and its committee story. The Gazette clearly rushed the piece so they could break news, got things wrong, arguably had an agenda/goal in mind, and now everyone over there is doubling down at every turn instead of accepting at least a sliver of culpability. As I said — intent matters.
 
SE Iowa for sure. I dated a chick a couple years ago from far SE Iowa. Spent a lot of time down there during the summer of 2020 and I have NEVER heard the N word casually used by so many people in my life.

You get outside of the bigger cities in Iowa, and there is plenty of racism to go around.
There's also no shortage of that talk and attitude in rural NW Iowa.
 
SE Iowa for sure. I dated a chick a couple years ago from far SE Iowa. Spent a lot of time down there during the summer of 2020 and I have NEVER heard the N word casually used by so many people in my life.

You get outside of the bigger cities in Iowa, and there is plenty of racism to go around.
Small town hicks

No different than everywhere in sec country :)

Same in Ohio :D
 
SE Iowa for sure. I dated a chick a couple years ago from far SE Iowa. Spent a lot of time down there during the summer of 2020 and I have NEVER heard the N word casually used by so many people in my life.

You get outside of the bigger cities in Iowa, and there is plenty of racism to go around.
So your summer in SE Iowa (missouri) is how you judge the rest of the state? Prick.
 
So your summer in SE Iowa (missouri) is how you judge the rest of the state? Prick.
I mean, I could give other examples from the Okoboji area (NW Iowa has been mentioned already by someone else) or SW Iowa where my redneck, racist cousins live. Or even from small town NE Iowa. I saw a kid from a small town get murdered back in 2006 in Cedar Falls because his friends started using the N word at a house party.

But hey, thank you for making assumptions and calling me a prick.
 
SE Iowa for sure. I dated a chick a couple years ago from far SE Iowa. Spent a lot of time down there during the summer of 2020 and I have NEVER heard the N word casually used by so many people in my life.

You get outside of the bigger cities in Iowa, and there is plenty of racism to go around.

Wow, you were running with trash. I've never experienced anything remotely like that in my life.
 
Wow, you were running with trash. I've never experienced anything remotely like that in my life.
Apparently so. They were all mid to late 20 year olds that grew up in the area. Multiple ones that had graduated from the U of Iowa. It was surprising to say the least.
 
Just when I think things are going the right way, this comes out. Dissolving the committee wasn’t a good move on Kirks part. Curious to know which coaches were unprepared and failed or refused to answer the 1 question.
fair enough...(btw, I don't "want it to be true") ...but the optics are still not good
When all the info was fully known, the optics looked pretty good. It shows waiting a day or two to jump is a good policy
 
Exactly.

The occasional run-in with people who inappropriately use the N word hardly makes a state racist.

But hey, surrrre…Iowa is synonymous with racist. You bet.
Another poster asked "what part" to someone else's post. I simply gave the first answer that came to my head. I never said Iowa is known for being racist. Just that there are certainly areas that have plenty of racist folks. That can be said about most rural places I'm guessing.
 
When all the info was fully known, the optics looked pretty good. It shows waiting a day or two to jump is a good policy
Yep.

It also shows you can't trust journalists. The "optics" I initially referred to was the headline. Sadly few people read beyond the headline and even fewer read the entire story. Almost none go on to ask after reading "did we really get the complete truth or is there more to this?"...so that headline becomes the "optics" for the populus at large.

Harty and Howe know that and abuse it ...a**holes
 
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When all the info was fully known, the optics looked pretty good. It shows waiting a day or two to jump is a good policy
Respectfully disagree.
In the hands of a skilled advocate, I think that it could make for an incredibly uncomfortable 30-40 minutes of deposition questioning for Kirk. Not to mention opening the door to a brand new set of supplemental discovery requests (ie requesting copies of emails to any “more recent graduate” to be part of the committee that was never dissolved).
The timing of this is awful.
Kirk and Brian’s depositions were previously scheduled for tomorrow and Friday. I have no idea whether they are going forward but I’d expect that the recent developments will be an area of questioning.
I continue to view this as a self-inflicted wound.
 
Another poster asked "what part" to someone else's post. I simply gave the first answer that came to my head. I never said Iowa is known for being racist. Just that there are certainly areas that have plenty of racist folks. That can be said about most rural places I'm guessing.
In all 50 States.

The ignorant idiots will never completely wipe themselves out so we need to come to terms with it.
 
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Another poster asked "what part" to someone else's post. I simply gave the first answer that came to my head. I never said Iowa is known for being racist. Just that there are certainly areas that have plenty of racist folks. That can be said about most rural places I'm guessing.
The same can be said about most urban areas as well. It is pretty much everywhere.
 
In all 50 States.

The ignorant idiots will never completely wipe themselves out so we need to come to terms with it.
So we need to be okay with racism? Or what do you mean by “come to terms with it?” I’m sorry if I misinterpreted your initial statement.
 
SE Iowa for sure. I dated a chick a couple years ago from far SE Iowa. Spent a lot of time down there during the summer of 2020 and I have NEVER heard the N word casually used by so many people in my life.

You get outside of the bigger cities in Iowa, and there is plenty of racism to go around.
That’s odd, I lived in small town SE Iowa my whole life. Never heard it used.
 
And you can find Iowans in NW corner who feel the extreme SE corner might as well be Missouri. Growing up in NW Iowa, I remember my father and his friend both with immigrant parents from Sweden and Norway telling jokes that came from their home country "A thousand Swedes run through the weeds, chased by one Norwegian...." something like that. Later I came to view these "jokes" more about nationalism, even a healthy national pride. There are several "Dutch" communities in the sate of Iowa, with windmills in their towns and parades marching in wooden shoes, and they suffer jokes from non-Dutch neighbors. And, their are socialistic (yes, very communist like) and religious based communities who literally exclude an shun others who are non-believers, openly refer to those who do not share their heritage as "outsiders", and some who exclude "outsiders" from inclusion in the human race. Perhaps some of the people of these communities have not embraced all the modern views of race, racism and discrimination but it is unkind to broadly label them all as raciest and ignorant, simply because they live in communities that are largely homogeneous, ethnocentric, even nationalist in there makeup, like themselves. Of course, this reality of the diversity of even white culture in Iowa and how they succeed in all living together in spite of it, doesn't excuse all of their behavior toward blacks mentioned in this thread, but this thread was about Kirk's committee, devolving, a new committee's recreation, perhaps the qulity of the Gazette's reporting....right? Back on topic please! Or is it time to close this thread an move on?
 
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SE Iowa for sure. I dated a chick a couple years ago from far SE Iowa. Spent a lot of time down there during the summer of 2020 and I have NEVER heard the N word casually used by so many people in my life.

You get outside of the bigger cities in Iowa, and there is plenty of racism to go around.
Perhaps it is just the company YOU keep.
 
Seems weird to me that Ferentz could dissolve the committee. Seems it should have been overseen by Barta.
It was his committee, formed by him to advise him. It was not a University oversight committee or something. It had zero power, which is why calling for the staff to be removed was a massive overstep. The article made it look like it was an official group for oversight and that Porter was speaking for the committee. Neither is true.

Exactly. Odd that he hand picks this guy to lead the committee but then fires him when he doesnt like what he says. We all know who is in charge in Iowa City. Win 10 games and all is well. Ferentz is a douce.
He wasn't "fired". It was a volunteer advisory group. Sorry, you'll have to save your pitchfork for something real.


1-2 things over the course of his career, forgivable.

kirk has had:
1) calling out your third string qb during a press conference
2) keeping incompetent OC for one reason and one reason only
3) this odd “restructuring” of a committee that saved his job

so 3 character issues in one season.
Add:
Rhabdo
Trash can incident
Racist culture
Kid (who now happens to be inept OC) living in section 8 housing

Hate to break it to ya, Kirk is a POS. I do take issue with comparing him to coach k though.. he wins titles, Kirk cons Iowa fans into believing he’s their savior
He didn't "save his job" by restructuring you dolt. The committee is not some oversight committee and they have no power. Further, the committee was not in agreement with Porter. In addition. there was no "Racist Culture", there was a culture akin to a corporate environment that was more onerous to come blacks because it was much different than the culture they grew up with. But by all means, if it makes you feel better to paint it as racist, carry on. You clearly need something to sooth your pain and make you feel superior. Don't let facts get in the way of that.

I would like to hear more from both sides on this. Two questions that immediately arise for me are, 1.) How do our coaches not arrive at this meeting with an answer to the committee’s question? Even if a scripted answer all the coaches created together and ran by an attorney first, they certainly should have had an answer. 2.) How is Kirk Ferentz dissolving this committee and not his boss, the AD? With the situation, this decision should come from the AD, and even include the university President.
1) It was mid season. The committee was advisory in nature, not an oversight committee. Porter's "homework" was more along the lines of something you'd expect from an oversight committee. It really had no place in the role the committee was supposed to fulfil and likely was thrown out there because the the program had already implemented all the suggestions that had come from the committee (per Porter himself). So they really needed fresh input from more recent members which is what the restructuring is all about.
2) Kirk can dissolve the committee (in it's current form) and restructure because it's his committee....not one created by the University. There is a formal DEI team that is still in place.
 
That’s odd, I lived in small town SE Iowa my whole life. Never heard it used.
Although I don't live there day by day, I own land in SE Iowa and am there quite often and know a great many people from all walks of life and have never heard anything remotely racist from anyone. Maybe it isn't regional...maybe it is the class of people that one associates with?
 
Although I don't live there day by day, I own land in SE Iowa and am there quite often and know a great many people from all walks of life and have never heard anything remotely racist from anyone. Maybe it isn't regional...maybe it is the class of people that one associates with?
Could be or the location(s) one is interacting at…but that doesn’t mean we should ignore it.
 
Could be or the location(s) one is interacting at…but that doesn’t mean we should ignore it.
I would say don't completely cast it aside but living and working in 2 southern southeastern counties the N word has never came up in any conversation, not once in the 20 years I have been here. Now we have 2 prominent law officers in the area that are African American and also home of Simon Estes. There is stories of when he was in high school of racism more of older generations, and the classmates stood up for him, such as going to the movie theater. Now I can guarantee you can find some loon in either of these two communities, but to state it as the baseline is outrageous. Now you will find stronger feelings on immigration because thats what they think they should be from listening to Fox ect.
 
I mean, I could give other examples from the Okoboji area (NW Iowa has been mentioned already by someone else) or SW Iowa where my redneck, racist cousins live. Or even from small town NE Iowa. I saw a kid from a small town get murdered back in 2006 in Cedar Falls because his friends started using the N word at a house party.

But hey, thank you for making assumptions and calling me a prick.
I have also heard that from a lot of people from the suburbs of Chicago and Milwaukee. Probably more so than my time in small-town Iowa and in Iowa City. I don't think you should project your biases towards small-town folk
 
I've lived in Iowa for 58+ years. I could count on one hand the number of times I've heard the N word used as a slur. I've heard blacks use it around themselves a fair amount.
I find this hard to believe. I remember hearing it growing up a ton. I can't count how many times but it was used a lot. I saw a kid from my HS beat the crap out of someone who called him that. I know it is a problem in my father-in-laws city up north because there has been complaints about kids calling a AA kid in the school that.
There were just recent stories the last couple years about opposing fans at HS sports games using racial slurs against kids.
 
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I find this hard to believe. I remember hearing it growing up a ton. I can't count how many times but it was used a lot. I saw a kid from my HS beat the crap out of someone who called him that. I know it is a problem in my father-in-laws city up north because there has been complaints about kids calling a AA kid in the school that.
There were just recent stories the last couple years about opposing fans at HS sports games using racial slurs against kids.
FWIW, my experience is nearly identical to Hwk-I-St...only it looks like I might a year older than him. :) I can remember just a couple of times in my younger years where I heard anyone, other than a black person, address anyone else by the "N word".

Once during a little league baseball game and it was promptly dealt with, as it should have been, by our coaches. Another time I was directing a youth summer camp and a white kid called a black kid the "N word". We also addressed that post haste and by the end of the week...those two kids were fast friends.

I am not saying that it doesn't happen, because it certainly does...but it also isn't something that just goes on routinely all over the place...at least not in the places that I have been and I have been in a fair number of places.
 
I find this hard to believe. I remember hearing it growing up a ton. I can't count how many times but it was used a lot. I saw a kid from my HS beat the crap out of someone who called him that. I know it is a problem in my father-in-laws city up north because there has been complaints about kids calling a AA kid in the school that.
There were just recent stories the last couple years about opposing fans at HS sports games using racial slurs against kids.
Maybe it's a matter of who you're around. I wouldn't stay friends with someone who had that attitude and racism wasn't a thing in my family.
 
I find this hard to believe. I remember hearing it growing up a ton. I can't count how many times but it was used a lot. I saw a kid from my HS beat the crap out of someone who called him that. I know it is a problem in my father-in-laws city up north because there has been complaints about kids calling a AA kid in the school that.
There were just recent stories the last couple years about opposing fans at HS sports games using racial slurs against kids.
If this were a courtroom the objection sustained would be heresay.
 
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