An e-mail to reply to

The administration has taken steps toward addressing acts of intolerance on campus and while its too early to judge the results, we applaud the intention.

Alerting the campus to reported incidents of intolerance can achieve several things. First, it keeps community members aware that a regular problem exists. The University has demonstrated a willingness to provide information, and we should embrace every bit it shares. Second, by recognizing and trying to understand hate crimes on campus as a trend, the administration has avoided the “bad egg” excuse for racism.

While some argue that e-mails detailing every incident might desensitize the community, we prefer to believe that the volume of e-mails creates an impact, forcing us to recognize a social problem from which many might assume Wesleyan is safe.

Because these e-mails originate from the Dean’s Office, they may seem no different than any other administrative reminder. They’re not: students should consider that the incidents described in the e-mails reflect actions perpetrated against a fellow student, and that those actions were upsetting enough for that student to report it. Not every act of hate is reported, but the regular dissemination of reported incidents could encourage more students to report hurtful incidents, and realize that they can count on this community for support.

What we need now is a constructive output for this information. Students can read e-mails, but what can they do about the acts described? University or student groups should continue working toward effective workshops and dialogues for students to continue to understand and move against these acts.

The Dean of Diversity and Academic Achievement’s upcoming website could become an important tool for the documentation and analysis of intolerance on campus, but the term the office is advancing, “campus climate,” is bothersome. We don’t need a Patriot Act-like color system of terror. We’re skeptical that hate “climates” change with such regularity that we need a system to label shifts. Instead, the Deans should continue to focus on distributing information and letting students know what is going on in all corners of this community.