Letters to the Editor | Students exaggerate scope of hatred

An Opinions article entitled “Discussion insufficient to address MICA violations” in the 10.28.05 edition of The Miscellany News claimed that a quick google for “Vassar Imperialist” would return “a number of hostile, hateful articles on right wing and Neo Nazi websites.” I decided to check it out for myself. Of the first 50 sites returned, several were from Vassar itself, for example, VSA minutes. Most had nothing to do with MICA or The Imperialist. One was from InsideHigherEd.com, where the two students were first quoted (having agreed to be interviewed by David Epstein), and where Constantine (the alumnus who stands accused of racism) himself joined the conversation. For the sake of INFORMED discussion, please read what he posted, and feel free to download a copy of the third issue of The Imperialist at cineris.org/constantine/ content/TheImperialistIssue3.pdf. Some were from cineris.org/constantine/, the ‘blog of the author of the offending story and the artist behind the offending picture. One was from Tolerance.org, and compares the controversial issue of The Imperialist to an incident at the University of Michigan when a racist white man urinated on an Asian couple.

Other than the article by Tolerance.org, the only disgusting thing I read in the first 50 sites was the Overthrow site. Unlike the many people who, in their desire to explain their disgust, spread the poisonous ideas found on that site, I will not quote it. I merely point out that it was the only site I visited that contained hate speech. I guess ONE is the “number of hostile, hateful articles,” etc.

I have read the published minutes from the Oct. 23 meeting of the VSA, but I am still unsure of the reason MICA was de-authorized. According to a 2003 letter of clarification by the Office for Civil Rights of the U.S. Department of Education, “Harassment, however, to be prohibited by the statutes within OCR's jurisdiction, must include something beyond the mere expression of views, words, symbols or thoughts that some person finds offensive.” (I will e-mail a pdf copy to anyone who doesn’t believe the letter exists.)

To the two students (and I must reiterate for anyone who just doesn’t get it—neither MICA nor The Imperialist ever published their names!) mentioned in Overthrow.com: While I understand your concern and I hope you can have your names removed from that despicable website, you really should understand something about the world outside of Vassar: if your name is on a public website or is spoken by a television reporter or is printed in a newspaper or magazine, people can and will talk about you. Some will be friendly. Some will not. Such is reality.

Because of this truth, I fully expect that people will find me and harass me at my job and possibly even at my home. But I am willing to risk it in hope that anyone who disagrees with me will meet me on my battleground of choice: the written word. In the interest of such discourse I now provide my e-mail: doconroy@vassar.edu

—Don Conroy, Kitchen Worker,
All Campus Dining Facility