President Bennet negotiating with protestors in the stairwell of North College. Originally published in The Argus on Dec. 10, 2004. c/o Ben Fash ’07
Like many people, this week’s Argives columnists, Maggie Smith ’27 and Lara Anlar ’28, are particularly fond of celebrating our birthdays yearly. Thus, we decided to check out The Argus issues published on our birthdays. To our surprise, these issues reported on some especially interesting events.
From Maggie: December 2004
Spurred by my looming 20th birthday, I looked into the issue published on my date of birth, Dec. 10, 2004, which featured an article which covered a large commotion on campus.
On Dec. 10, 2004, The Argus published a grandiose 28-page issue mainly covering student protestors dissatisfied with University policies of the time.
An article entitled “Students Trap Bennet in office, demand to be heard” written by then-Executive Editor Katherine Hall ’05, reported on a large student protest that occurred during then-President Doug Bennet’s office hours on Tuesday, Dec. 7, 2004.
“While President Doug Bennet stayed locked in his South College office, over 250 students gathered outside the building and later blocked the stairwells to protest a long list of issues related to a lack of student voice in recent Administration decisions,” Hall wrote.
According to Hall, students bargained with Bennet for over four hours, blocking his path to leave, and presented a 16-item issue list. The listed issues included gender-neutral housing, hate crimes, chalking, and the WESU/WSHU deal.
“The goal [of Tuesday] was to get President Bennet to engage with our dissatisfaction with University policies on our terms,” Matt Montesano ’05—a participant in the protest—said in the article. “Yeah, it was intimidating, but no one was going to hurt Doug Bennet.”
The demonstration on Tuesday was inspired by an open mic event on Monday, Dec. 6, 2004 that discussed issues pertaining to students of color on campus. However, the article noted that the issues which spurred the protests were had been prevalent for a long time.
In another article, titled “Chaotic forum leads to large attendance, larger frustration,” then-News Editor Elizabeth Ody ’05 wrote about a forum administrators hosted in Cromwell Concert hall on Wednesday Dec. 8, 2004 in response to Tuesday’s protests. The article noted the participants’ dissatisfied views on the forum.
“[Then-Director of University Communications Justin] Harmon felt that the forum was chaotic, poorly organized, and did not result in any better understanding of student’s concerns,” Ody wrote.
The forum also resulted in controversy because the administration argued that students broke forum rules. As a result, Bennet refused to send a joint email with students to alumni, a condition stated in an agreement from Tuesday, Dec. 7, 2004. Bennet did agree to respond to the forum by Jan. 19, 2005, and claimed he would schedule another forum for when students return to campus the following semester.
The student protest of Dec. 7 and the forum on Dec. 8 also gained media attention outside The Argus. Notably, The Middletown Press published the article, “800 students confront Bennet, protesting ‘issues’ at Wesleyan” on Dec. 9, 2004, written by Szymon Twarog.
The Argus reported extensively on the student protests in the Dec. 10, 2004, issue. Included in the issue, The Argus published a “Timeline of Events” and the “Statement read to President Bennet during the Dec. 8 Forum.” Additionally, the Wespeaks section included student opinions on the protests. Taking up seven pages, students and alumni wrote a mix of perspectives on the situation, including the articles “We Owe Bennet an apology” by Ben Birdsall ’07, “Alum writes in solitary” by Joseph Gindi ’03, and “Wesleyan must hire a mediator” by David Wiener ’06.
Students blocking Bennet’s exit from South College. Originally published on Dec. 10, 2004. c/o Ben Somberg ’05
From Lara: January 2005
A month later, another eye-catching event was reported in The Argus. Since my birthday is in the summer, July 31, 2005—the same day as Harry Potter—I decided to look at The Argus issue published on my half-birthday, Jan. 31, 2005.
In early January 2005, John Leo, a journalist and father of a University alumnus, published a column entitled “Campus life, fully exposed” in an array of news outlets such as the U.S. News and World Report, exposing many of the University’s peculiar qualities. In response to this negatively-toned article, The Argus decided to publish John Leo’s original article along with a response from an alumnus in their Jan. 25, 2005, issue.
In Leo’s article, he criticizes many aspects of the University that students normally embrace, listing features of the then-campus community in a dismissive fashion.
“…the naked dorm, the transgender dorm, the queer prom, the pornography-for-credit course, obscene sidewalk chalking, the campus club named crudely for a woman’s private part, or the appearance on campus of a traveling anti-Semitic roadshow, loosely described as a pro-Palestinian conference,” Leo wrote.
More specifically, he explicitly makes homophobic and transphobic comments.
“The naked dorm and the porn course were both examples of Wesleyan’s determination to accommodate as much sexual confusion as possible,” Leo wrote.
Reacting to Leo’s column, an article titled, “Alumnus responds to John Leo,” by Ron Medley ’73 was published in the same issue of The Argus. In this article, Medley addresses Leo’s concerns and critiques his arguments by listing various Wesleyan accomplishments.
“1) The winning of an international Rhodes scholarship by a Wesleyan senior from Malaysia, 2) The opening of the Green Street Arts Center, sponsored and paid for and staffed in large measure by Wesleyan faculty and students for the benefit of kids in one of the poorest neighborhoods in Middletown, 3) The fact that there are after school programs in Middletown that could not exist without Wesleyan student volunteers, 4) The Internet sale of a student produced music CD, the proceeds of which are dedicated to the relief of Sudanese refugees,” Medley wrote.
Medley argues specifically in response to Leo’s several jabs accusing the student population that they are not as diverse or proactive as they believe they are.
“Wesleyan may not be perfect (it could use a lot more money), but it’s pretty good at what it does best, which is to educate some of the brightest, most talented and courageous kids in the country,” Medley wrote.
Overall, it was truly interesting to see what The Argus reported on for our birthday and half-birthday. Looking back at past student protestors and a dramatic debate on University culture is relevant in analyzing the present. Even though the two issues were radically different in subject matters, it’s beneficial to see how the University has grown since.
We suggest our readers discover the happenings on their birthday in the Argives! You never know what you may find.
Maggie Smith can be reached at mssmith@wesleyan.edu.
Lara Anlar can be reached at lanlar@wesleyan.edu.
“From the Argives” is a column that explores The Argus’ archives (Argives) and any interesting, topical, poignant, or comical stories that have been published in the past. Given The Argus’ long history on campus and the ever-shifting viewpoints of its student body, the material, subject matter, and perspectives expressed in the archived article may be insensitive or outdated, and do not reflect the views of any current member of The Argus. If you have any questions about the original article or its publication, please contact Head Archivists Sida Chu at schu@wesleyan.edu and Maggie Smith at mssmith@wesleyan.edu.