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 Robinson |
Hate is a deadly thing.
This past week we re-learned that lesson as the nation watched over the dying of Matthew Shepard. Perhaps, because he was a university student, his beating and death brought home to many of us the reality of fear that some people must live with daily. In our society and in our universities, to be "different" can be a heavy burden. Whether that difference is sexual orientation, or skin color, or religion, or gender, or disability, it can leave you open to threats, abuse, violence, or even death.
 Photo by Heather Hill Students, staff, faculty and others from the Bloomington community congregated at Dunn Meadow Oct. 14 for a candlelight vigil in memory of University of Wyoming student Matthew Shepard, who died Oct. 12. |
We like to think that Indiana University is different. Perhaps so. Perhaps not. Last Thursday, I received an E-mail from an IU student who, the evening before, had attended the candlelight vigil service for Matthew, sponsored by Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual & Transgendered Student Support Services. That night, as she started on her walk to Dunn Meadow, she was told by a dormmate that she shouldn't attend the service. One young man in her dorm told her that Matthew deserved what he got and that he should die and rot in hell for his actions. Other hateful remarks followed. Is this the tolerance for diversity that Indiana University aspires to teach? Of course not.
Many of us have committed ourselves over the past year to re-dedicating the university as a place to teach and learn respect and civility. The remaining members of the ZBT fraternity have been working hard at understanding and respecting diversity issues. The advocacy and support offices at IU Bloomington have been working hard at this curriculum for decades. But these isolated projects must be enhanced and supplemented. We all need to teach that no one "deserves" to die for being gay or lesbian. We need to teach that no one "deserves" to be savagely beaten because his or her skin is black or brown or yellow. We need to teach that no one "deserves" to be threatened because they are not Christian. We need to learn that everyone "deserves" respect, civility and a non-threatening environment in which to live and work.
If IU is to be a place where diversity is valued, then we can't presume that Wyoming is someplace else, and it can never happen here. As a university, we must encourage freedom of speech and of expression, so that even the student in the dorm should be allowed to say what he feels. But we all have an obligation to teach him that free expression can only flourish in an climate of civility and tolerance. We must start here, and we must start now to build IU into a place where only one thing is not tolerated: hate.
Editor's note: The IUB Office for Women's Affairs Web site is:
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