Hitler
graphic exhibited before football game; Michigan State 'truly regretful'
A pregame exam that featured a picture of Hitler and a
mention of his birthplace resulted in the placement of an unknown employee on
paid leave.
Before a football
game on Saturday night, Adolf Hitler images were shown on the stadium's video
boards. Michigan State University issued an apology.
An unnamed university official claimed on Sunday night that a staff was involved in the
incident, although they did not specify whether this was deliberate or the
product of careless management.
Alan Haller, a vice
president at Michigan State and its director of athletics, released a statement
saying, "A preliminary assessment was made, and an involved employee has
been identified and suspended with pay pending the outcome of an investigation."
As part of a pregame quiz before Michigan State was scheduled to visit No. 2 Michigan, a
picture of Hitler and the name of his birthplace, Austria, were displayed on
video boards at Spartan Stadium, the organization stated.
Social media instantly became flooded with pictures of the video boards showing Hitler's
image.
Speaking on behalf of the university, Matt Larson said that it was "deeply sorry" for
the exhibit. According to him, the institution had terminated relations with
the "third-party source" who was to blame for the photograph.
However, Haller asserted on Sunday that Michigan State should ultimately be responsible for
screening any photographs before they are shown.
"Michigan State Athletics is responsible for all content shown on its video boards,"
added the official. "Before it was displayed, the video was not viewed in
its entirety by anyone in athletics, exposing a failure in our process."
He expressed regret, promised to change, and accepted accountability.
The added. "I apologize for the pain it has caused our community."
As tensions between Israel and Hamas escalate and antisemitism fears spread around the globe, the
image of Hitler was on display. 6 million Jews perished in the Holocaust at the
hands of Hitler's Nazi government.