ALANA bulletin board vandalized

Audrey Tempelsman Guest Writer

Last week, students discovered black ink scrawled over the announcement board of the African American/Black, Latino, Asian/Asian American, Native American (ALANA) Center, Vassar’s primary resource for students of color. The markings, found on Monday, Feb. 19, appeared on the faces of those photographed and consisted of elements such as moustaches and blackened teeth.

The ALANA Center released a statement shortly after the findings that expressed a collective “feeling of sorrow among students of color and our allies.”
“I am proud to be part of the Vassar community, but today I am reminded that the struggle toward access, equity and inclusion is on-going,” said ALANA Center’s Director Yolanda Ramos ’96.

The vandalism was discovered two days before All College Day, an annual event during which students, faculty, and administrators gather to discuss ways to make the Vassar community stronger. The ALANA Center described the board’s defacement as “working in opposition” to this campus-wide endeavor. At the time of this printing, no one had admitted to witnessing or participating in the incident, leaving its motivation in question.

“It could be just stupid vandalism or it could be someone trying to deface a specific poster for racially motivated reasons,” said program assistant James Cantres ’08. “The ALANA center hasn’t pointed fingers either way.” Likewise, Dean of the College Judy Jackson, who was notified of the incident last Friday, stated in an e-mail that the markings “seem to have no implicitly racially grounded motivations.”

Nevertheless, the damage has caused some to question the relationship between students of color and the Vassar community. “I thought we were an institution that prides itself on mutual respect,” said Frank Tate ’09. “Maybe I was wrong.”

“When you are a member of a racial or ethnic group that has a long history of being targets of prejudice, discrimination and acts of violence, it is difficult to see this as an isolated incident and not part of a systemic problem,” Ramos added.

ALANA administrators moved the announcement board to the College Center last year in an effort to make the Vassar community more aware of the organization and its events. They viewed the vandalism as a disappointment to these aims.

“Any act of vandalism hinders our attempts to foster a healthy dialogue with the College community,” said student manager of the ALANA Center Haniya Mir ’07. “Whether this was an act reflecting racial issues or a mere prank, it was an intentional act, and that is something of deep concern.”