Michigan State University has suspended an employee and apologised after Hitler's image was shown on videoboards before a college American Football game.
The photo was shown just before Michigan State Spartans played rivals Michigan Wolverines last Saturday.
It was part of a trivia quiz that came from YouTube page The Quiz Channel. The question asked where Hitler was born?
Videos from the same YouTube page have been used all season before each home game, the university said.
Matthew Berry, a Jewish NBC Sports analyst with a wide social media following, was one of several who criticised the university for showing the image.
Berry wrote to his 1.1 million followers on X/Twitter: “In a world where Jewish people are being killed and tortured every single day Michigan State puts a picture of Hitler on its massive scoreboard as a wacky trivia answer like he’s a movie star or something. Unbelievable.”
Meanwhile, Floris van Pallandt, the creator of The Quiz Channel, said the university’s use of his channel’s content was unauthorised.
In a world where Jewish people are being killed and tortured every single day Michigan State puts a picture of Hitler on its massive scoreboard as a wacky trivia answer like he’s a movie star or something. Unbelievable. https://t.co/qcil7gr460
— Matthew Berry (@MatthewBerryTMR) October 22, 2023
He told CNN: “I was completely unaware of this and only learned content created by me was being used due to this occurrence.
“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."
Issuing an apology, interim university president Teresa Woodruff said: "I am deeply sorry for the image displayed at Spartan Stadium, which made many of our community feel alienated and unsafe.
"It was unacceptable. I asked last evening for a full review of this university event and will take all necessary steps to align our messages and actions to our values.
"I will work with our Jewish community and every member of minoritised populations to ensure Spartans feel that this is a place where everyone can live, work, go to class and attend events that are welcoming."
Michigan State athletic director Alan Haller said his department had suspended an employee who allowed the image to be shown. He added: "Antisemitism must be denounced.
"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.”
The incident comes at a time of heightened fear and tension in the American Jewish community after Hamas' terror attack on Israel.
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