'You Should Be Outraged,' Air Force Academy Head Tells Cadets
About Racism On Campus

September 29, 20179:18 AM ET

After racial slurs were scrawled outside black students' doors
at the U.S. Air Force Academy's preparatory school,
Superintendent Lt. Gen. Jay Silveria gathered all 4,000 cadets
in a hall Thursday so they could hear one message: Treat people
with dignity and respect � or get out.

"That kind of behavior has no place at the prep school, it has
no place at USAFA, and it has no place in the United States Air
Force," Silveria said, in a speech that has found an
enthusiastic reception after it was recorded and published
online. "You should be outraged not only as an airman, but as a
human being."

Speaking to a crowd of some 5,500 people that included faculty,
coaches, airstrip personnel and senior officers and staff of
the 10th Air Base Wing that includes the academy, Silveria
urged them not to let their institution be taken away from
them.

"The appropriate response for horrible language and horrible
ideas � the appropriate response is a better idea," Silveria
said. "So that's why I'm here. That's why all these people are
here."

Both the academy and the Air Force amplified Silveria's message
through videos and tweets drawing on his speech.

The academy is investigating an incident involving the N-word
from earlier this week, when, as local newspaper The Gazette
reports, "five black students woke up Tuesday to find 'Go Home'
followed by the epithet scrawled on message boards outside
their rooms."

The Gazette, based in Colorado Springs, Colo., south of the
school's base, adds, "Sources at the academy said there
appeared to be a single vandal involved, judging by the
handwriting."

While acknowledging that the academy isn't a perfect
institution, Silveria said it would be naive not to speak about
racism � and that it would be tone-deaf not to do so in the
current climate in America, including racist demonstrations in
Charlottesville, Va., and elsewhere.

The Air Force Academy draws people from all races, the
superintendent said, and from all walks of life, all parts of
the country, all genders and upbringings.

"The power of that diversity comes together and makes us that
much more powerful," Silveria said. "That's a much better idea
than small thinking and horrible ideas."

Toward the end of his address, Silveria said:

"Just in case you're unclear on where I stand on this topic,
I'm going to leave you my most important thought today: If you
can't treat someone with dignity and respect, then you need to
get out. If you can't treat someone from another gender,
whether that's a man or a woman, with dignity and respect, then
you need to get out. If you demean someone in any way, then you
need to get out. And if you can't treat someone from another
race, or different color skin, with dignity and respect, then
you need to get out." Those in the room listened in silence. To
make sure his message was received and taken away, Silveria
told cadets and others present to get out their phones and
record it. Citing the need for the group to have moral courage
and protect their institution's values, he then repeated his
message: "If you can't treat someone with dignity and respect,
then get out."