If racial tension on campus is bad, how's this?

[TigerHoya]

I find it ironic that the person the most upset about the University handling of a matter involving a student charged with an alleged hate crime is somebody using a handle with the word "redskins" in it.

[redskins12820]

tigerhoya said:

I find it ironic that the person the most upset about the University handling of a matter involving a student charged with an alleged hate crime is somebody using a handle with the word "redskins" in it.

touche. I will forward the irony on to Dan Snyder

[Cambridge]

austinhoya03 said:

truehoyablue said:

How is that any different (or less conclusive) then the traditional police sketch, followed by police lineup, which has been the standard for decades in identifying suspects. If visual identification was not taken as acceptable, then any crime in which the attacker is not personally known by the victim (or arrested on scene), would be unsolveable.

Traditionally, police use the sketch to compile a lineup themselves, based on information regarding a criminal's appearance. In this case, the victim played a key part in compiling the lineup, and factors other than appearance played a part.

I don't know whether police used a different photo of the accused attacker, or whether they used the photos the victim found on Facebook. If it's the latter, how is that a good lineup?

I think its almost certainly unconstitutional. You can not have the victim provide the photograph and then identify the suspect based on said photograph. There is absolutely no way that is going to be admissible.

[sead43]

not really anything substantively new here, but i just thought some alums might like to see this e-mail which current students got from President DeGioia this evening:

October 9, 2007

Dear Members of the University Community:

I am writing in response to important dialogue that has been raised over
the past few weeks related to problems of intolerance and
discrimination, particularly those motivated by sexual orientation,
within our community. As someone who has been a part of this community
for more than thirty years, I am deeply committed to fostering and
sustaining a culture of respect and inclusion so that all students,
faculty and staff may make the most of their individual talents and
potential.

I too was deeply troubled to learn that a student reported being
assaulted and subjected to homophobic slurs in an incident near campus a
few weeks ago. University officials responded quickly to meet the needs
of this particular individual and continue to look out for his well
being. In addition, our Department of Public Safety cooperated fully
with the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) in their investigation.
Another student was arrested on charges of simple assault investigated
by MPD's hate crimes unit. It is important to recognize that the
student charged has pleaded not guilty and it would be inappropriate to
pre-judge the outcome of a case that will be addressed in court and
through our student conduct system. This incident, however, has raised
important concerns about what is acceptable within our community.

I will not tolerate homophobia or any other form of discrimination on
our campus and believe that there are no circumstances in which
students, faculty and staff should walk in fear because of any aspect of
their identity. The Catholic and Jesuit tradition that animates our
community emphasizes the inherent dignity and worth of every human being
and calls us each to do our part to foster civility and respect for all
members of our community.

Over the years, I have worked in partnership with many of you to address
issues of discrimination and intolerance of all kinds on campus, and we
must continually recommit ourselves to this important ongoing work.
Whether it is homophobia, racism, sexism, religious or other
discrimination, intolerance of any kind is an affront not only to
individual faculty, staff and students, but also to our entire campus
community.

As we reflect upon the importance of our work together, I hope you will
join me in engaging in productive and civil discourse and building and
sustaining a respectful campus community that best enables us to fulfill
the greater purpose of Georgetown University.

Sincerely,

John J. DeGioia
President
Georgetown University

[AustinHoya03]

Have there been any updates in this case? Just curious.

[youngjeezy]

well, there was a DPS email sent out to students two weeks ago saying that a kid in a freshman dorm on a saturday night woke up to find a swastika drawn on his leg. the kid was jewish. and somehow it has not been made into a big incident. yet.

[HoyaSinceBirth]

I actually know people on this floor, and from what i've heard it was just drunken stupidity rather than a hate crime. still not acceptable, but the concensus seems to be that it wasn't drawn becuase he was jewish or as a hate crime. the worst part of this is i was told that they were going to let the kid just name who he thought did it and let him name the punishment. and that the kid is saying the punishment will be expulsion which seems extremely harsh, especially iff they're not going to have proof that the kid they expell did it. I hope this doesn't actually happen. i didn't read the email since i delete DOPS emails right away, but that's what's i've been told 3rd hand.

[sead43]

publicsafety.georgetown.edu/44771.html

this is the orginal alert that was sent out.

[strummer8526]

Feb 5, 2008 10:52:47 GMT -5 HoyaSinceBirth said:

I actually know people on this floor, and from what i've heard it was just drunken stupidity rather than a hate crime. still not acceptable, but the concensus seems to be that it wasn't drawn becuase he was jewish or as a hate crime. the worst part of this is i was told that they were going to let the kid just name who he thought did it and let him name the punishment. and that the kid is saying the punishment will be expulsion which seems extremely harsh, especially iff they're not going to have proof that the kid they expell did it. I hope this doesn't actually happen. i didn't read the email since i delete DOPS emails right away, but that's what's i've been told 3rd hand.

Wow, I didn't believe they'd actually take my advice and let the students start running the school.

[rosslynhoya]

"On January 23, 2008, a student reported to DPS that someone entered his unlocked room in Harbin Hall after midnight on January 11, 2008, and, while the student was sleeping, drew a swastika with a thick black marker on the student's left thigh. The student discovered the image when he awoke. An investigation of this incident is ongoing."

Not to blame the victim or anything, but isn't it a good idea to lock your dorm room when you're sleeping? And is "sleeping" intentionally being used as a euphemism for "passed out drunk"?

[strummer8526]

Feb 6, 2008 8:50:52 GMT -5 rosslynhoya said:

"
Not to blame the victim or anything, but isn't it a good idea to lock your dorm room when you're sleeping? And is "sleeping" intentionally being used as a euphemism for "passed out drunk"?

Yes, lock the door. And yes, I'd put $1,000,000 of someone else's money on the fact that he was passed out.

I find that blaming the victim is actually correct more often than not.

What ever did happen w/ the kid accused of beating up the gay guy?

[HoyaSinceBirth]

yes sleeping means passed out drunk. It seems like nothing more than drawing the wrong thing on a passed out person.

[HoyaNyr320]

Feb 6, 2008 8:50:52 GMT -5 rosslynhoya said:

"On January 23, 2008, a student reported to DPS that someone entered his unlocked room in Harbin Hall after midnight on January 11, 2008, and, while the student was sleeping, drew a swastika with a thick black marker on the student's left thigh. The student discovered the image when he awoke. An investigation of this incident is ongoing."

Not to blame the victim or anything, but isn't it a good idea to lock your dorm room when you're sleeping? And is "sleeping" intentionally being used as a euphemism for "passed out drunk"?

Just because you start a phrase with "not to blame the victim or anything" doesn't mean that you can then go and blame the victim. Were you too thick to realize that maybe the people that drew the swastika on his leg were his roommates? Locking your door is not going to prevent that from happening. Oh, and by the way- being drunk doesn't excuse behavior like this.

[strummer8526]

Feb 7, 2008 11:13:09 GMT -5 HoyaNyr320 said:

Feb 6, 2008 8:50:52 GMT -5 rosslynhoya said:

"On January 23, 2008, a student reported to DPS that someone entered his unlocked room in Harbin Hall after midnight on January 11, 2008, and, while the student was sleeping, drew a swastika with a thick black marker on the student's left thigh. The student discovered the image when he awoke. An investigation of this incident is ongoing."

Not to blame the victim or anything, but isn't it a good idea to lock your dorm room when you're sleeping? And is "sleeping" intentionally being used as a euphemism for "passed out drunk"?

Just because you start a phrase with "not to blame the victim or anything" doesn't mean that you can then go and blame the victim. Were you too thick to realize that maybe the people that drew the swastika on his leg were his roommates? Locking your door is not going to prevent that from happening. Oh, and by the way- being drunk doesn't excuse behavior like this.

No but let's say, HYPOTHETICALLY, that he was blackout drunk...how sure can anyone be that his identification of the person who did it is accurate? Drunk or not, there could be all kinds of circumstances that would factor into what kind of punishment the kid who did it should receive.

[redskins12820]

Email update from the anti-gay incident....

February 7, 2008

Dear Members of the Georgetown University Community,

We write today to provide you with an update on our LGBTQ Initiative. As you know, in mid-October we launched an effort to explore how best to enhance resources available to LGBTQ students and promote inclusiveness and respect within our community. Since that time, three Working Groups — Resources, Education, and Reporting —-- have worked collaboratively to develop a set of practical recommendations. Last week the Working Groups submitted their final reports to us, and this past Tuesday we met with the three groups.

Thirty-eight University community members served on these working groups, including students, faculty, department chairs, staff, senior administrators, alumni, and members of the Jesuit community. The members seriously engaged the issues at hand and showed great commitment to Georgetown. They consulted a wide variety of University leaders and national experts on LGBTQ resources in higher education, and they carefully considered the resources Georgetown brings to this work as a Catholic and Jesuit university. We are impressed with the wisdom of their recommendations, which can be found at ideaa.georgetown.edu/lgbtq/. We would like to take this opportunity to tell you about next steps in four areas.

First, as recommended by the Working Group on Resources, for the 2008-09 academic year the University will establish an LGBTQ Resource Center with two fulltime staff, funding for programming, and an accessible campus location. In the next two weeks we will begin a national search process to identify qualified candidates for the role of Director. The Search Committee, which will have strong representation from the LGBTQ community, will be composed of students, faculty, staff, and alumni. Our goal is to fill this new role before the Fall 2008 semester.

Second, the Education Working Group offered a wide range of recommendations that, when implemented, will make a difference in our community. Some recommendations call for specific efforts to address LGBTQ needs and perspectives in areas such as admissions, athletics, study-abroad, and counseling. Others relate to how we can strengthen respect, inclusion, and understanding on matters of sexual and gender identity across the University community. Because there are many recommendations covering a wide range of departments and areas, we have decided that the most effective way to move forward is to ask two senior leaders -- Associate Provost Marjory S. Blumenthal and Associate Vice President for Student Affairs Jeanne Lord -- to develop an implementation plan. We have asked them to coordinate closely with LGBTQ Resource Coordinator Bill McCoy in developing an approach to implementation that makes progress this semester and prioritizes effectively among many valuable recommendations.

Third, the Working Group on Reporting has made recommendations to enhance the University’s system for reporting incidents of intolerance by developing a common framework for reporting such incidents and notifying the campus community when such incidents take place on or near our campus. I have asked Vice President for University Safety Rocco DelMonaco to oversee the implementation of these recommendations. For recommendations relating to the Bias Reporting System, Center for Multicultural Equity and Access Director Dennis Williams will oversee their implementation. With these improvements, we hope it will be even more clear that Georgetown University does not tolerate homophobia or any other form of discrimination.

While the working groups focused on the undergraduate experience, this Initiative has elicited questions and suggestions from faculty, staff, and graduate students. Today we are pleased to announce that we are creating a University-wide committee to identify and address LGBTQ issues in an ongoing and integrated way. Vice President for Institutional Diversity and Equity Rosemary Kilkenny has accepted our invitation to chair that committee, which will be formed this semester. We expect this committee to be a resource as we implement the recommendations of the Working Groups and more generally, as we respond to the needs and interests of faculty, staff and students.

During the past few months, these three Working Groups have set a standard for creative, effective, and collegial work. We were inspired to hear how much the members of the Working Groups enjoyed getting to know each other and coming up with practical ideas to benefit our community. We would like to thank the six colleagues who co-chaired the Working Groups: Associate Professor of English Ricardo Ortiz; Professor of History Tommaso Astarita; Vice President for Student Affairs Todd Olson, and, as mentioned above, Bill McCoy, Marjory Blumenthal, and Dennis Williams. We would like to thank Rosemary Kilkenny and Vice President for Public Affairs and Strategic Development Daniel R. Porterfield for their work as the Initiative’s co-coordinators.

Finally, we are especially grateful to the many students who have shown outstanding leadership at every step. We look forward to the next stages of the LGBTQ Initiative and to all efforts to enhance our campus community.

Sincerely,


John J. DeGioia James J. O’Donnell
President Provost

[Deleted]

What does the "Q" stand for in LGBTQ?

[Filo]

"Questioning." No comment.

[strummer8526]

Feb 8, 2008 8:59:57 GMT -5 buffalohoya said:

What does the "Q" stand for in LGBTQ?

OR alternatively, if you ask Bill McCoy in CSP, it's "Queer."

Seriously.

[strummer8526]

Also, is in insensitive for me to say that it's ridiculous to hire two full-time faculty/staff members for a "Resource Center"? What resources, exactly, do gay students need that aren't covered by other areas (ie: security, counseling, medical, programming, etc. etc.)? Why are LGBTQ concerns not already just handled under existing departments and "resources." If I were hiring 2 new full-time staff members, I would think of a more efficient, broadly necessary use for them.

Second, what exactly is LGBTQ "programming"? This is a serious question. What does that even mean?

EDIT: Also, please no one read this as any kind of knock on LGBTQ students at all. I was just as offended by attacks on people based on sexual orientation as anyone. All Georgetown students deserve to be safe, and I have absolutely no personal issues with differing sexualities. I just have a problem with mindless solutions to problems.

[joey0403p]

You know i heard something the other day at work. We were getting ride of the diversity officer, department, programs, initiatives etc etc etc.

In its place we would have the inclusion officer, department, programs, initiatives etc etc etc. The thinking that when people say diversity - generally speaking they exclude white heterosexual dudes. Which in many places is the biggest group. So how can you expect the biggest group of people to get involved in all these other organizations. (I am sure not doing the arguement justice but I think you get what I mean.

I just think about this when I see g town creating another group / program etc that segregates kids. Certainly there are issues a LGBTQ (I think i got that right) kid is going to have that are different that a hetero kid. But why not just have ALL our couselors be qualified for this? I also don't doubt there could be more education to everyone on LBGTQ, Islam, Juedism, race, etc etc etc. But if we have a group for Jews to get together and talk abot being jewish doesn't that alienate them from everyone else?

Full disclosure I am a white, irish catholic hetero dude. But I remember when LGBTQ first came out while I was at school they had programs to talk about what they were and stuff. I was invited or got a flyer and what not and never considered going because I figured it wasn't for me. I guess those types of things would be much more productive if they covered things like... how to deal when you are hetero and your roommate is homo, or teammate or best friend. Or how to support your friend who is figuring things out etc.

Now those meetings might have covered that stuff (I actually would bet they did) but because it was marketed as a meeting FOR LGBTQ kids and not for everyone about LGBTQ...it was lost on me.

Lastly - I am trying to remember stuff from 4 - 7 years ago so I might not have all my facts right. But I know g town has done this type of thing in the past. Like they invite kids from one group to a thing / program about that group... then wonder why everyone is segmented.

The only thing I'll say about this kid beating up the other kid. I think it is very hard to prove intent. Therefore I really don't like the "hate crime" designation. If I get beat up by another white irish catholic hetero dude... is that any different than if I get beat up by a white irish catholic hetero dude and I happen to be gay? I mean if i don't prevoke him in either case...what is the difference? Getting beat up because you're gay or getting beat up because there is a perceived insult / or any other random thing.

I'm sure a lot will disagree with me - but I think inclusion and tolerance of everyone is key. Segmenting can very easily lead to problems.