U of I Slams Bus Service For 'Racist And Bigoted' Ad

CHAMPAIGN, IL — A bus company that shuttles students from the main University of Illinois campus around the Chicago area is facing criticism from some — including the Daily Illini student paper — for a promotional ad promising customers they would be riding with "Passengers like you. You won’t feel like you’re in China when you’re on our buses." That promise was one of 11 "perks" offered to students who chose Suburban Express over other bus services.

The ad, sent via email on Saturday, was met with anger from many on the campus, which has the 11th highest population of foreign students of any American college campus, according to the Institute of International Education.

The Daily Illini's editorial board on Saturday published a column calling the ad "racist and discriminatory," and rejected an initial apology issued by Suburban Express.

"In their statement, which was intended to be an apology to international students, the transportation company claimed the 'high percentage of nonnative English speakers places a variety of burdens on domestic students,'" The Daily Illinois wrote in an editorial titled "Shame on Suburban Express." The paper said its staff have been banned from using Suburban Express.

In another email titled "Apology," Suburban Express said it "made a remark based on the fact that our competitor mostly handles Chinese international students," adding, "The remark is being interpreted as a slap in the face of all non-caucasians for some reason, and that it not how it was intended."

The apology email also criticized the way U of I handles admissions for foreign students and incorrectly claimed nearly 20 percent of students are from China, according to the Chicago Tribune, which put the figure at 12 percent. About 5,900 of U of I's current students are from China, according to university data, the Tribune reported.

On Sunday, Suburban Express took to social media, pointing the finger at a "student agitator" looking to harm the company's reputation in a lengthy Facebook post:

In 2013, an employee of a subcontracted bus company made an inappropriate comment to a non-english-speaking customer. We agreed that the comment was inappropriate and we promptly apologized. Nevertheless, a student agitator made it his full-time job to tell the world that Suburban Express is racist based on the comment which we agreed was inappropriate, and for which we apologized. He filed a lawsuit against Suburban Express and went so far as to convince Highland Park Police to arrest the founder, for online comments which the agitator himself may have posted. The judge in the matter, who found the founder not guilty, essentially stated that she had no reason to believe that the agitator had not posted the comments himself.

Unfortunately, the 2013 episode caused many students from countries in Asia to abandon Suburban Express and ride a competing company. We were very saddened by the loss of those riders. We meant them no harm, and we felt we were being unjustly punished.

When we wrote a recent promotional email, we mentioned that Suburban Express riders would not encounter Chinese exchange students on our buses. That's because they all ride our competitor now. It was an ill-advised statement to make, because it upset the very people we were sad to have lost.

Suburban Express again apologized for the ad, saying it "welcomes students of all nationalities on our buses" adding, "Anyone who says otherwise is trying to further their own agenda. We apologize for our insensitive statement, and we hope to do a better job of unifying the campus community in the future, from our office in the heart of campustown."

The Facebook post also drew criticism from students asking why their comments were being deleted. As of late Monday morning, the post remained on the Suburban Express Facebook page. The Daily Illini said Suburban Express owner Dennis Toeppen sent the same message to the paper.

The ad came at a time when the University of Illinois community continues to cope with the disappearance of a Chinese scholar. Yingying Zhang, 26, arrived at the university last April and vanished in June. The FBI has said it believes she is dead, and a Champaign man is charged with lying to agents about her disappearance, as well as one count of kidnapping resulting in death.

University of Illinois' Office of the Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs reacted to the Suburban Express ad on Sunday. "We cannot prevent a private company from operating in our community," it said in a statement. "But we can, loudly and unambiguously, say that the opinions expressed by Suburban Express are offensive, bigoted, insulting and in direct opposition to the values of this university. And we would encourage any potential future customers of this transport company to carefully investigate its record and customer concerns before using its services."

The university also made it clear that it has no affiliation with Student Express. Spokeswoman Robin Kaler said the company often violates campus policy by posting ads in classrooms and on university property, adding, "“They have tried, for example, hanging their posters in classrooms and we take them down,” she said in a statement to the Daily Illini.

The Daily Illini also criticized Suburban Express for its "Page of Shame," which publishes the names of students the company claims are "fare cheaters." As of Monday morning, the Page of Shame had apparently been removed from the website.

In October, the paper ran an article on the Page of Shame, saying it contained entries going back to 2009, and that Toeppen filed 120 lawsuits against students for violating Suburban Express policies, although charges against students were later dropped.

Photo of a student walking across the main quad at the University of Illinois. AP Photo/David Mercer, File