At about 6:45 on Thursday, October 2nd, I walked into the bathroom on the top floor of Jones Hall and noticed something on the wall. Someone had used period blood, as far as other witnesses and I could tell, to write the f-slur in large capital letters on the wall. I notified the Jones group chat, as well as sending a picture of the vandalism to my RA, and the slur was cleaned off the wall later that same night. The next day, I met with Student Life to let them know about the situation; Ryan West assured me that she had been made aware and Student Life was looking into it. I have received no further updates.
I conducted an interview with Sunny and Cal, a gay couple living on the wing of Jones in which this incident happened. When asked how this incident made them feel, they replied, “Honestly, it just sucks. It’s exhausting… homophobia isn’t new to us – [we] have already dealt with instances on campus before, but this feels different. This isn’t just a queer event getting cancelled, it’s someone going out of their way to do something meant to disgust or intimidate us. It takes a kind of effort and intent that [we] still can’t fully rationalize or wrap our heads around.” While Sunny and Cal reported not feeling afraid for their physical safety as a result of this incident, they “do feel uneasy and…unwelcome. It’s a reminder that there are people here who genuinely don’t see queer students as deserving of respect or belonging.”
Sunny and Cal also reported having spoken to Ryan West and the campus counselor, and they say this isn’t the first time they’ve done so. “Queer people have been targeted here before,” Sunny and Cal state. “[We] moved dorm buildings because we’ve been harassed, and of course there was the drag event being cancelled because of someone that isn’t even a student here… queer spaces and organizations have been shrinking on campus lately, and at the same time, incidents like this seem to be happening more often. It’s hard not to notice that correlation.”
The drag incident Sunny and Cal are referring to happened during the spring semester of 2023 – the Gender Inclusivity and Femininity Team (GIFT) planned a drag queen event which was cancelled by college administrators due to alumni outrage.
“We’re not looking for punishment or anything crazy,” Sunny and Cal state. “[W]e just want to feel like we’re being heard and that our safety and dignity matter as much as anyone else’s. We want to know that there are systems in place to protect queer students from targeted harassment.”
When asked if there was anything else they would like people to know, Sunny and Cal said, “Even if you don’t understand us or agree with us, basic respect isn’t a high bar. Writing targeted slurs in blood doesn’t just affect the people they’re targeted towards. They make the whole environment feel uglier and less safe for everyone. It takes way more effort and energy to do something like that … [than] to just be kind to your neighbors.”
“And to whoever wrote the slur,” they continued, “we’re here if you need to talk. Come grab a Capri Sun and watch a movie with us or something. Hang out with queer people and talk to us before you decide on hate. We promise we’re not that scary.”
Read the full interview here.