07/16/2003

No this is not a headline from a newspaper in the deep south during the 1960s. This is not a headline about South African Apartheid. This is happening in Normal, Illinois as you read. Yes believe it.

The Normal graduate chapter of Omega Psi Phi, Inc. applied for private use of the pool at Fairfield Park, and the application was denied. This denial was done in concert with the City of Normal Police Department, Normal's Park and Recreation, and Normal City Administrators (known collectively as the "City").

The reason for the denial changed from meeting to meeting. First the reason for the denial was the Normal Police's inability to control the crowd that would gather outside of the pool. Even when crowd control was discussed with the police, and it was suggested by Normal that the Omega members help direct traffic and disperse the crowd, the city ultimately said no.

Second, the Normal powers that be limited the number of attendees for this private party to three-hundred, despite the fact that the capacity of the pool is over one-thousand. The City of Normal has an unwritten "rule" that three-hundred is the maximum number of private guests that can safely occupy the pool, despite the fact that this sliding "rule" has changed from year to year since its claimed inception date of 1998. The Omega membership agreed to sell pre-paid tickets of three-hundred to alleviate the city's concern. Still the answer was no.

Next, the City stated that the "history" of this event gave them concern. They pointed to incidents of a lifeguard being kissed and alcohol being passed over the fence some years ago. If you will notice the reason for the no keeps changing. Hoop after hoop was jumped through yet new reasons sprung up like missiles. All of the concessions made by the Omegas were done in the name of working together, as the City put it.

Let me be accurate. The City made some suggestions but they all involved having the private party at places outside the City of Normal. One suggestion was to go to East Peoria. For some reason, the city believes that the East Peoria pool, that is the same size as Bloomington's, can "accommodate" the Omegas. This "not in my town" attitude filled the rooms of each meeting.

This is just the latest in a series of public and private government and business attempts to thwart gatherings of black groups, especially fraternities and sororities. This Omega chapter has never held a splash party in the city of Normal, yet they have a "history". This group of young black professionals are being told no you cannot use the facilities that were built and now run with your tax dollars.

The lack of diversity in the Normal administration has infected their public policy. The City claims to have had this three-hundred person limit, but they admit it has not been applied consistently since its inception. The Omegas want the same access and treatment as the Knights of Columbus, Girl Scouts, and local marching bands. When asked how many other groups have been banned, the answer is we do not keep records. When asked can you recall any, the answer is no. The City of Normal has "dog days" where citizens bring their dogs to the pool to swim. There is no three hundred dog limit on "dog days". There is something terribly wrong in the City of Normal when dogs are treated better than people.

This decision is both disturbing and unacceptable. There appears to be no explainable criteria or policy other than passing the Police and Administration's "comfort level". The pool was built by taxpayer dollars and continues to run on taxpayer dollars, but not all taxpayers can gather at the pool.