Michigan State University officials apologized on Sunday after the school football stadium’s jumbotron displayed an image of Adolf Hitler during a pre-game quiz over the weekend.
“Antisemitism must be denounced,” Michigan State Athletic Director Alan Haller said in a statement reported by The Associated Press. “The image displayed prior to Saturday night’s game is not representative of who we are and the culture we embody. Nevertheless, we must own our failures and accept responsibility.”
An hour before kickoff between the Michigan State Spartans and the team’s in-state rival, the University of Michigan, an image of Hitler appeared on the stadium’s video board asking game attendants to name the birthplace of the German dictator and leader of the Nazi Party.
“The image was harmful to our communities, especially our Jewish community which is currently experiencing a rise in antisemitism, including acts of violence,” Haller’s statement said, reportedly adding he would reach out to student and local Jewish community groups.
Haller said the pre-game controversy led to the suspension of an “involved employee” while officials investigate the matter.
Michigan State spokesman Matt Larson said in a separate statement that the school would discontinue using “the third-party source moving forward.”
“MSU is aware that inappropriate content by a third-party source was displayed on the videoboard prior to the start of tonight’s football game,” Michigan State athletic director Matt Larson said in a statement. “We are deeply sorry for the content that was displayed, as this is not representative of our institutional values.”
Pictures of the image began circulating across social media, with users criticizing the university for displaying the image after the Israel-Hamas war entered its third week over the weekend, leading to a rise in antisemitism from supporters of Hamas.
What’s up with @MSU_Football putting Hitler on the scoreboard during a pre game trivia game. Just wrong. pic.twitter.com/ZKeYIirAIL
— Jeff Kowalsky (@JeffKowalsky) October 21, 2023
The image reportedly came from a YouTube page called The Quiz Channel, whose description page states has created weekly quiz and trivia videos for the last three years.
Floris van Pallandt, the creator of The Quiz Channel, told CNN that the university used the channel’s content without his authorization and has since received a rise in negative feedback impacting its reputation, performance, and monetization.
“I was completely unaware of this and only learned content created by me was being used due to this occurrence,” van Pallandt wrote. “While I provide customised content packages for businesses, the utilisation of my publicly accessible YouTube content for stadium entertainment is highly questionable to say the least.”
“MSU’s subsequent statement appears to allude to a third-party source, which seems to suggest The Quiz Channel as that very source. If this is accurate, that is unacceptable to me, as it is unacceptable for The Quiz Channel to bear reputational, performance, or financial repercussions due to MSU’s unsolicited use of our content,” he wrote.
The Quiz Channel creator further defended the question about Hitler’s birthplace.
“It’s an absolutely normal trivia question, shown in an inappropriate setting,” Pallandt reportedly wrote on his YouTube page. “Ignoring the dark facets of history is by no means the answer, on the contrary.”
Michigan State reportedly streamed the YouTube channel, which included 40 questions ranging from historical figures to pop culture trivia.