On the morning of Saturday Feb. 10, a death threat accompanied by racist and homophobic epithets was discovered scrawled on a bathroom stall in Clark Hall. One of the racist epithets identified a particular resident by name.
The vandalism was first discovered at around 2 a.m. by a couple of fourth-floor Clark residents. The students reported it to their RAs, who then contacted Public Safety. The writings were removed shortly afterwards.
“I feel that the gravity of this situation should not be underestimated,” said Christie Kontopidis ’10. “There were death threats targeted at an individual in our community, and the damage is inestimable. If we do not at this point commit ourselves to change, then we are committing ourselves to living amidst violence, bigotry and hate.”
The incident elicited different reactions from students—some were outraged, some hurt, and some were simply detached.
“The vandalism seemed impersonal because I felt it didn’t really have much to do with me,” said Mike Lau ’10.
However, many residents felt affected in one way or another.
“The incident that occurred just shows that Wesleyan is not a utopia and that we’re not a bubble protected from the outside world,” said Toni Zosherafatain ’10. “We must also take into account that even if you’re not in the target group of these hateful writings that these are issues that affect everyone. If you do feel unaffected, the people you interact and live with, like your neighbors, could feel emotionally distraught and even unsafe.”
One such resident chose to speak out.
“As a black and gay person, I felt that both the racist and homophobic vandalisms were an attack on me,” said Eric Daniels ’10. “It was hard to listen to the neutral perspectives of those who weren’t targeted and couldn’t empathize because they didn’t fall into the targeted groups. It made me feel very uncomfortable.”
On the Monday following the incident, the residents of Clark Hall were called to attend a mandatory meeting in response to the occurrence. The purpose of the gathering was to talk about how the act of intolerance impacted the students and the greater University community, and to find ways of preventing such acts. President Doug Bennet and Dean of the College Maria Cruz-Saco were also present at the meeting.
“I asked students how to deal with it,” Bennet told the Argus. “I took a lot of guidance from the group. They were very concerned [Clark] not be viewed as a hostile environment. [We discussed] how important they are as a symbol of Wesleyan’s culture. [The act] is not Wesleyan.”
With somewhere between 30 and 50 students showing up for the meeting, many were discouraged by what they saw as low attendance.
“What affected me the most was the apathy of certain students in Clark,” said Kyrah Daniels ’10. “Some of my more privileged peers wanted to suffocate the issue in Clark and didn’t feel the incident needed to be shared with the Wesleyan community at large, but I think that this is precisely the course of action we should take.”
Last Tuesday, Public Safety officers conducted an investigation in Clark, going door to door to ask residents what they thought about the incident and if they had any information about it. A responsible party has yet to be publicly identified, but consequences of the vandalism continue.
The incident has brought together members of Clark who say they are committed to tangible solutions that prevent such acts from happening in the future. Residents aim to hold more hall meetings to improve communication, work on creating a more positive atmosphere, and encourage the acceptance of difference through publicized means such as Wespeaks.