Letters to the Editor
Issue date: 3/2/10 Section: Opinion
Editor's note: The following letter is in response to the "Talk with peace, not hate" editorial in the Feb. 26 issue.
Protest invites completetly appropriate
The editorial that ran on Friday, Feb. 26 in The DePauw troubles me. You place the blame for any possible "expense of the sense of security and tolerance we strive to cultivate at DePauw" on the two students who invited the Westboro Baptist Church to the campus. It would appear that The DePauw is very committed to keeping this university in its "bubble," nicely tucked away from the real world.
Your statements concerning First Amendment rights are certainly politically correct. President Casey's response was respectful of those same rights and political, as it should be. Yet I am disappointed that The DePauw, an independent source of information in a liberal democracy, would feel its community's safety so threatened as to condemn students who are making an effort to bring real, pressing issues to our campus.
The Westboro Baptist Church is wrong. They abuse First Amendment rights in that they advocate the removal of civil liberties for certain people in the name of religion. Just because it is free speech does not make it accurate, truthful or worthwhile speech.
How dare you blame those two students for an invitation of hate. Support their efforts to break down this steel-reinforced bubble that DePauw is nestled in.
Mike Duffy,
junior
"Love Rally" a success for DePauw
DePauw University can take pride in its response to the threatened protest by Westboro Baptist Church. We turned a potentially negative situation into a community building experience. It was wonderful to see our community come together, celebrate our diversity and have a "Love Rally."
The "Love Rally" will become an important marker in the history of DePauw University. It signifies the time when our campus actually became the community we previously only imagined it could be. It was cool to be part of that, so much so, that the hint of self-congratulatory discourse floating in Julian atrium was merited. The success o f the event was partly due to a history of struggle at DePauw. Years of hard work and vision by a group of administrators have transformed our community.
They can tell you that the university response to Matthew Shepard's murder was not a "Love Rally." When Shepard was murdered, United DePauw asked President Bottoms and the administration to make a statement about the hate crime. They declined. A group of students-Eric (then Emily) Plemmons, John Ohle, Anisah Miley and Jake Gross-responded by organizing a silent protest in front of the Administration Building. To symbolize that silence was a form of violence. They stood for several hours with taped mouths.
The university then issued the statement. While these events are part of our history, they are not part of our historical memory. That's an important point for the kind of community we want to be. During the "Love Rally," Shepard was referenced multiple times, but the history of DePauw's response to Shepard's murder was never mentioned. It was strangely ironic that our silent protest had this silence hidden within it. Perhaps more ironic, this silenced history actually illustrates that we have become the community that we were once only able to imagine.
The silence suggests that we might need to leave our "Love Rally" comfort zone and find our prejudices. Do we discriminate when the history that is important to the story of our marginalized groups is not part of our community's historical memory?
Glen David Kuecker,
associate professor
VP of student life thanks community for heartening response
I was proud to be a member of the DePauw community on Saturday night. In response to a possible protest of the student-directed production of "The Laramie Project," student organizers planned an event that drew a large segment of the DePauw community. Caitlin Neal and Brandon Monson, with the help of many other students, countered threats of hate by organizing a rally that espoused values of understanding and peace.
I'm very thankful that we did not have protesters on our campus, but pleased to know that we can come together as a community to counter groups that target hate towards members of our community. The positive energy in the Julian atrium was inspiring and I want to, in particular, thank our speakers, P.T. Wilson, Veronica Pejril, Adam Cohen and Sarah Ryan. All of them spoke with heartfelt emotions in response to the occasion and to the crowd gathered. I know that for some of them their words came from a very personal place and I admire the courage it took to speak out.
I also want to thank members of the staff who worked tirelessly to put a plan in place to keep our community safe in the event the protesters had shown up. A special thanks to Angie Nally, Jeannette Johnson-Licon, Sarah Ryan, Alison Reuschlein and Greg Dillon. There were many others who contributed to turning what could have been a very negative incident on our campus into one that was positive.
A colleague reminded me that it would have been fitting to pay tribute Saturday night to several students who, in the aftermath of Matthew Shepard's death, staged a protest because the DePauw administration had neglected to acknowledge, by way of a public statement, the travesty of Matthew's death. The students, Eric Plemmons, John Ohle, Anisah Miley and Jake Gross, placed duct tape across their mouths and protested outside of the administration building. I believe that, in part, because of the actions of these students, DePauw became a stronger, more aware, more caring community. I, for one, would like to thank them and hope they realize what role they played in the response of our community this past weekend.
Cindy Babington,
vice president for student life
Protest invites completetly appropriate
The editorial that ran on Friday, Feb. 26 in The DePauw troubles me. You place the blame for any possible "expense of the sense of security and tolerance we strive to cultivate at DePauw" on the two students who invited the Westboro Baptist Church to the campus. It would appear that The DePauw is very committed to keeping this university in its "bubble," nicely tucked away from the real world.
Your statements concerning First Amendment rights are certainly politically correct. President Casey's response was respectful of those same rights and political, as it should be. Yet I am disappointed that The DePauw, an independent source of information in a liberal democracy, would feel its community's safety so threatened as to condemn students who are making an effort to bring real, pressing issues to our campus.
The Westboro Baptist Church is wrong. They abuse First Amendment rights in that they advocate the removal of civil liberties for certain people in the name of religion. Just because it is free speech does not make it accurate, truthful or worthwhile speech.
How dare you blame those two students for an invitation of hate. Support their efforts to break down this steel-reinforced bubble that DePauw is nestled in.
Mike Duffy,
junior
"Love Rally" a success for DePauw
DePauw University can take pride in its response to the threatened protest by Westboro Baptist Church. We turned a potentially negative situation into a community building experience. It was wonderful to see our community come together, celebrate our diversity and have a "Love Rally."
The "Love Rally" will become an important marker in the history of DePauw University. It signifies the time when our campus actually became the community we previously only imagined it could be. It was cool to be part of that, so much so, that the hint of self-congratulatory discourse floating in Julian atrium was merited. The success o f the event was partly due to a history of struggle at DePauw. Years of hard work and vision by a group of administrators have transformed our community.
They can tell you that the university response to Matthew Shepard's murder was not a "Love Rally." When Shepard was murdered, United DePauw asked President Bottoms and the administration to make a statement about the hate crime. They declined. A group of students-Eric (then Emily) Plemmons, John Ohle, Anisah Miley and Jake Gross-responded by organizing a silent protest in front of the Administration Building. To symbolize that silence was a form of violence. They stood for several hours with taped mouths.
The university then issued the statement. While these events are part of our history, they are not part of our historical memory. That's an important point for the kind of community we want to be. During the "Love Rally," Shepard was referenced multiple times, but the history of DePauw's response to Shepard's murder was never mentioned. It was strangely ironic that our silent protest had this silence hidden within it. Perhaps more ironic, this silenced history actually illustrates that we have become the community that we were once only able to imagine.
The silence suggests that we might need to leave our "Love Rally" comfort zone and find our prejudices. Do we discriminate when the history that is important to the story of our marginalized groups is not part of our community's historical memory?
Glen David Kuecker,
associate professor
VP of student life thanks community for heartening response
I was proud to be a member of the DePauw community on Saturday night. In response to a possible protest of the student-directed production of "The Laramie Project," student organizers planned an event that drew a large segment of the DePauw community. Caitlin Neal and Brandon Monson, with the help of many other students, countered threats of hate by organizing a rally that espoused values of understanding and peace.
I'm very thankful that we did not have protesters on our campus, but pleased to know that we can come together as a community to counter groups that target hate towards members of our community. The positive energy in the Julian atrium was inspiring and I want to, in particular, thank our speakers, P.T. Wilson, Veronica Pejril, Adam Cohen and Sarah Ryan. All of them spoke with heartfelt emotions in response to the occasion and to the crowd gathered. I know that for some of them their words came from a very personal place and I admire the courage it took to speak out.
I also want to thank members of the staff who worked tirelessly to put a plan in place to keep our community safe in the event the protesters had shown up. A special thanks to Angie Nally, Jeannette Johnson-Licon, Sarah Ryan, Alison Reuschlein and Greg Dillon. There were many others who contributed to turning what could have been a very negative incident on our campus into one that was positive.
A colleague reminded me that it would have been fitting to pay tribute Saturday night to several students who, in the aftermath of Matthew Shepard's death, staged a protest because the DePauw administration had neglected to acknowledge, by way of a public statement, the travesty of Matthew's death. The students, Eric Plemmons, John Ohle, Anisah Miley and Jake Gross, placed duct tape across their mouths and protested outside of the administration building. I believe that, in part, because of the actions of these students, DePauw became a stronger, more aware, more caring community. I, for one, would like to thank them and hope they realize what role they played in the response of our community this past weekend.
Cindy Babington,
vice president for student life
Viewing Comments 1 - 1 of 1
Anisah Miley
posted 3/05/10 @ 12:34 PM EST
I am honored by the tribute paid to me and my peers for our work at DePauw. I am also proud to attach myself to the legacy of struggle that began before my years at DePauw and is obviously still very much alive. (Continued…)
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