WASHINGTON, Oct. 22 (dpa/EP) –
Michigan State University (MSU) “deeply regretted” having featured an image of Adolf Hitler on its video screens during a question-and-answer segment before its football team’s game against Michigan.
The image, which appeared after a question about Hitler’s birthplace, was part of a regular pre-match question-and-answer segment run by an outside contractor.
“MSU is aware that inappropriate content, displayed by a third party, was featured on the video scoreboard prior to the start of tonight’s football game,” said MSU associate athletic director Matt Larson. “We deeply regret the content that was shown, as it is not representative of our institutional values,” he added.
Larson said the university will sever ties with the unnamed source responsible for displaying the photo and will apply “stricter screening and approval procedures for all video scoreboard content in the future.”
An X user, Alexander Haenke, captured an image of the scoreboard and shared it on the social media platform. “I’m not saying it’s the end of the world or anything, but you can’t have Hitler on your scoreboard before the game,” Haenke responded in a subsequent tweet to a person asking about the importance of showing the photo.
Haenke’s post had been viewed more than 672,000 times before the break ended and sparked outrage. “Hi, I’m a former student. This is disgusting,” one person wrote. “Let’s not ask questions about Hitler,” wrote another.