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It appears that someone tried to remove the bust - which has been vandalized before - from its granite base, officials say.
By KEVIN GRAHAM
© St. Petersburg Times, published February 11, 2003
TAMPA -- Less than a week into the University of South Florida's Black Emphasis Month celebrations, someone vandalized the campus' bust of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. by trying to pry it from its granite base.
To prevent it from being stolen, university officials said Monday, the bust was removed Friday until its artist can find time to fix it.
"Part of the reason it's so infuriating is because it happened this month," said Michael Reich, a USF spokesman. "It just leaves you sick inside."
Reich said the university had not yet found a place to display the bust until it is repaired.
Several of USF's black history programs are typically planned outside near the bust, which sits as a centerpiece to a $1.8-million plaza completed in 1996 that bears King's name.
"That plaza is a real highlight for Black Emphasis Month and for events throughout the year," said Samuel L. Wright, chairman of the university's Black Emphasis Month committee. "It's symbolic of the impact that Martin has made. This lets us know we still have a lot of work to do in terms of race relations."
According to university police, this isn't the first time someone has vandalized the monument.
In September 2002, Sgt. Mike Klingebiel said, someone not affiliated with the university was arrested for removing the bust and throwing it into the MLK Plaza's reflection pond.
"Basically, I guess the damage was minimal, so they were able to just seat it back into the pedestal," Klingebiel said. "This time, someone was trying to pry it off, and they caused a support rod to bend."
The latest vandalism caused $5,000 in damages, Klingebiel said. By late Monday, no one had been charged.
Vincent Ahern, coordinator of public art for the Institute of Research in Art at the university, said he called university police about the bust after he was notified by one of the groundskeepers of a problem.
"It was up a quarter of an inch all around when it's normally anchored into the granite pedestal," Ahern said. "It was loose to the point that one could wiggle it."
Scalfani Louis-Jeune, who graduated from USF in 2001 and works for the university as an office manager, wondered Monday why anyone would vandalize King's bust, especially at a university where, she said, "They always promote diversity.
"It only angered me because it's sad to know that in 2003, people still despise the thought that this person is being cherished so much," Louis-Jeune said.
Louis-Jeune offered a suggestion for what should be done if the vandal is caught.
"They should be in charge of organizing some type of black history month program," Louis-Jeune said.
"For all we know, it was a bunch of racists who might have guessed that people fight racism but retreat from vandalism," David Pinero, a computer support analyst, wrote on a university listserv when he heard what happened.
Pinero, like others, wanted to make sure King's bust was returned to the plaza and not moved to a new location for safer keeping.
Reich assured him that it would.