Offensive graffiti raises difficult questions

Author: Leslie Lim

In response to homophobic graffiti found in the hallways of Ross Commons over Spring Break, President of the College Ronald D. Liebowitz sent a campus-wide e-mail over the break condemning the acts. Students and administrators met last Tuesday to discuss the incidents, and a student town hall meeting has been called for tonight.

"We are a strong, open, and resilient community, but we cannot tolerate actions that threaten the safety of community members and target individuals because of their differences," President of the College Ronald D. Liebowitz wrote in the e-mail. "We should also remember that the Ross incident, however egregious, is connected by attitude to other recent expressions of homophobia on this campus.

In a letter sent out to Ross residents on March 22, Ross Commons Heads Steve and Katy Abbott described the impact of the graffiti found in the stairwells of Hadley Hall, and the importance of addressing the issue.

"Beyond being simply vandalism, the comments written represented a pointed and offensive attack on an individual using language that was hostile, misogynistic and homophobic," wrote the Abbotts. "This act constitutes harassment and hate speech that is in direct violation of College policy as well as Vermont State law."

In response, the Commons heads proposed an open gathering on April 3 in the Ross Fireplace Lounge to discuss the issue. As students, faculty and staff became more involved with planning the meeting, the initially Ross-based gathering grew into a much larger forum. A Middlebury Open Queer Alliance (MOQA) campaign distributed posters in the dining halls days prior to Tuesday's meeting.

MOQA Co-President Nick Ballen '09, in an interview last Tuesday, described the graffiti as directed at specific individuals, mentioning names along with words and images.

"The campus, in general, is pretty accepting - but there are underlying things that don't come up," said Ballen, on whether the incident was related to a larger sentiment across campus. "Sometimes that is harder for an organization to deal with. These incidents are 'isolated' but 'not' because there are smaller versions [of the graffiti] everywhere. This sort of incident reminds us to pay attention to such things around campus, because when we ignore the little things, something big like this happens."

MOQA Co-chair Ryan Tauriainen '08 described the various other homophobic comments that had appeared on campus.

"A first-year had to change rooms because of harassment from the person's roommate and hallmates," he said. "Somebody had 'fag' scrawled across a person's door, a Commons dean was labeled 'dyke' in a stairwell, and a message was left in a senior's thesis carrel saying that she 'shouldn't have come out as a lesbian.'"

Ballen said he was satisfied with the administrative response but recognized the need for student-initiated change.

"[The e-mail] could have been more strongly worded, but [I'm] pleased with the administration's strong response," he said. "But the administration as authority figures can only do so much. It's a social issue, that ultimately has to do with students."

The Tuesday meeting attracted a large number of participants. Steve Abbott mentioned that he was impressed with the turnout, which was roughly 130 people and much larger than expected. The location shifted to Ross Dining Hall, where most of the circular tables were filled by an assortment of students, faculty and staff. The meeting was headed by the Abbotts, Tauriainen, ALLY representative Emily Nelson '08, Dean of the College Tim Spears and Dean of Institutional Diversity Shirley Ramirez.

After Katy Abbott reiterated the sentiments expressed in the letter to Ross Commons, emphasizing how their home had to be a safe and respectful environment, Tauriainen spoke of the various labels like "homosexual" and "gay" he did accept, and others, of a derogatory nature, he did not. He too had heard of the incident through Liebowitz' e-mail, and as he was planning the meeting, was told that he would be "preaching to the choir" and that those vandals would not come to such a meeting. Tauriainen explained he responded to those comments by realizing that the "choir" had to be unified and strong in its response.

Ramirez also addressed the crowd, saying that she was impressed by the turnout and the student mobilization.

"I am inspired by conversations, that people are seeing this as an opportunity to talk about the larger Midd community," said Ramirez "We really want this to be not just about what the institution or administration does, but about individuals and the personal commitments they can make. This is a real and open space, and I'm glad you're here and thrilled that you're listening."

Spears read a written statement from Liebowitz, who was unable to attend because he was traveling to a Passover seder.

"This was not the first such act this year, or even this semester, and so it is clear that we need to discuss, as a community, why such hateful and destructive sentiments have life on this campus, and why some feel the need to bring pain and discomfort to valued members of our community," read Liebowitz' letter. "As an academic community, we need to welcome - indeed encourage - discussion, debate, and, yes, different points of view on important issues, even when such differences make some uncomfortable. Discomfort contributes to one's education."

The administration has planned a follow-up event to the Ross Dining Hall meeting, scheduling an all-campus meeting on April 11 from 4:15 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. in the McCullough Social Space, which Liebowitz, his staff and MOQA will host. The agenda will be to continue and build upon the conversation in Ross and to consider the ramifications of hate speech, as well as to discuss perpetrators of homophobia. Spears explained that this meeting would also address the little signs of homophobia on campus, such as the offensive scribblings on the walls of the men's bathroom in Munroe Hall.

"Ross was a good, constructive start, interested in an honest dialogue, but there is plenty of room to press harder on issues," said Ramirez. "It resembled a good academic discussion, but it didn't fully address the hatefulness of the language, and where that came from."