ISC is not prejudiced nor discriminating

Wan Kamal Wan Napi
president, International Student Council

As president of the International Student Council at SIUC, I would like to offer my deep and sincere apology for what happened at the recent ISC soccer game between the African and the Japanese teams. I want to ensure to the SIUC community that the ISC harbors no prejudice against Africans or any of the other teams that participated in the soccer tournament.

Since its establishment in 1967, the ISC has been an organization that strives to eliminate prejudice and antagonism among different ethnic groups, religions and cultures. As current president of the ISC, I take pride in the fact that for over 35 years the ISC has served faithfully to foster a process of positive interaction among all groups by encouraging dialogue between people of different cultures, nationalities and faiths regardless of age, race, creed or color. The melting pot of our organization is our strength, not our weakness.

As to the specific game in question, the assigned referee stopped play with five minutes remaining. The ISC soccer committee considered the African team's request for a rematch, examined all evidence and decided against a rematch. This was a majority decision and was not politically motivated; the committee is neither prejudiced nor discriminating.

In participating in a tournament, we have all decided to put the logistical planning of the games into the hands of a committee and the game itself into the hands of a hired referee. The committee's decision was to honor that procedure and felt that overruling an on-field referee's decision contained more minuses than pluses. Also, the tournament guideline clearly states in Rule 16, section J that all decisions are final and should be respected.

In Carbondale, we have limited licensed referees to choose from, so if we are to have a tournament we must work with what is available. While our organization enjoys the respect of others, we don't intend to rest on our laurels. We are the first ones to recognize that perfection does not exist and there is always room for improvement. We are aware that much is yet to be done. But we much go forward instead of backward.

Again, I offer my personal apology on behalf of the ISC to the African team. Let's all pledge to put differences behind us and work to forge new, respectful relationships. We may not be perfect, but let's congratulate the winning team, United Players, and all the other participants. Then, let's continue to work together for the common good, the benefit of all and, as we continue our education, learn from and respect each other.

We can put all our brainpower behind our common good because as international students, we are in the same boat. We are here side by side, we will sail and sink together, so please "let the good times roll," and then we can proceed to build a better community.

Sincerely,

Wan Kamal Wan Napi president, International Student Council

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