The University of Iowa announced this week that it will be forced to spend $1 million to repair the damage that occurred during a recent Black Lives Matter protest. A group called the Iowa Freedom Riders spraypainted phrases like “BLM” and “Say their names” on university buildings. Now, the university claims it has preserved some of the graffiti for “educational programming.”
According to a report by Campus Reform, the University of Iowa will have to pay $1 million to repair the damage that the campus sustained during a recent protest by the Iowa Freedom Riders.
In a press release, University of Iowa Senior Vice President Rod Lehnertz said that historic buildings on campus sustained more permanent damage due to the materials with which they were constructed.
“Most buildings are able to be cleaned using typical spray-paint removal methods,” Lehnertz said. “However, three buildings—Old Capitol, Macbride Hall, and Schaeffer Hall—require additional care due to their historic nature and material composition. The Biology Building also requires additional care due to the amount of spray-paint on the building along with the building materials.
Despite the damage, the university believes that the graffiti was significant enough to preserve. University of Iowa Provost Montserrat Fuentes said that the graffiti has been preserved in photos for use in “educational programming” at the university.
“The spray-painting has been preserved in photographs and will, I hope, contribute to educational programming across our campus for years to come,” Fuentes said. “But what is most important is that we work with the communities that are suffering and struggling to be heard to ensure that their voices are amplified and that we continue to learn and move toward meaningful change.”
Breitbart News reported in May 2019 that the University of Iowa was set to spend nearly $3 million on “diversity and inclusion” initiatives for the year of 2019 alone.
Stay tuned to Breitbart News for more updates on this story.
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