After news spread about vandalism on the campus GLBT-CA Center, students decided to come together and show support for the GLBT community and unite against hate crimes on campus.
The vandalism, which is pictured, took place sometime between 9:10 and 9:20 p.m . on Monday night. No suspects have been named in the current investigation but Campus Police is continuing to look into the matter.
The graffiti was removed as soon as officials were notified about it.
If a student is apprehended as the perpetrator of this crime, they will be dealt with through Student Conduct and Campus Police.
Justine Hollingshead , the director for the GLBT-CA on campus, said that this issue is important to consider because it was an act of hate.
“This is not free speech; we’re not talking about something that happened in the tunnel,” Hollingshead said.
Last night, various student leaders, students and concerned members of the Raleigh community met in Harrelson Hall to discuss the best way to respond to the situation.
“We’re really, really proud to see so many on campus leaders taking a stand against this,” Paul Cash, president of the N.C . State GLBT-CA , said.
The Chancellor will be giving a statement about this incident as soon as possible; he is currently in Bejiing , China and has been having trouble connecting with the Provost.
Cash said that while he felt both anger and sadness directly following the incident, he said he feels proud after finding support in the University community.
“I cannot begin to describe how proud I am to be a part of the Wolfpack after the responses from the University, students, and student leaders,” Cash said. “I’m sure there are dissenters—but they aren’t speaking up as loudly as the supporters.”
However, Cash said this incident was not surprising in light of the recent passing of Senate Bill 514, which will allow a vote on adding a same-sex marriage ban in North Carolina’s constitution.
“We’ve been expecting this. As soon as the general assembly passed that marriage amendment, we knew this kind of stuff would be happening,” Cash said. “As much as it hurts me, I’m happy N.C . State was the first place to be hit by this. I think we have a strong organization on campus, huge support from the University and Campus Police, and we’re ready to handle this.”
In response to the incident, there will be an event Thursday at 1 p.m . in the Brickyard. Purple wristlets will be handed out to passing students in order to help raise awareness about the GLBT community and how allies can help. 1,100 wristlets were ordered and according to Hollingshead , they are hoping to completely run out of them by the end of the day.
“We decided we wanted to do something right away,” Rachel Turner, a student senator for CALS juniors, said.
While Cash said he wants the vandals to be punished, he also wants to remain positive.
“I do not hate the people who did this. I love them because they are my brothers—my fellow man—and I hope and wish for them that maybe one day their opinions will change and they’ll realize the error of their ways,” Cash said.
According to Tacey Miller, a freshman in elementary education, regardless of the distinction between “hate crime” and “hate incident,” the University and surrounding community need to send a powerful message against all forms of discrimination.
“I know [Campus Police] said [the incident] is not technically a hate crime, but I still feel it should be treated as such. It is no different than someone writing racial slurs on a building for everyone to see. I think that campus police and all of campus should come down hard on the person(s) who wrote on the GLBT center,” Miller said. “There needs to be some unprecedented warning that says this is not okay, nor accepted, at N.C . State. Discrimination is discrimination.”
Christopher Smith, a sophomore in science education, said he doubts the vandalism was a stray act.
“I feel this vandalism is nothing but a pure act of hatred and bigotry. The fact this occurred right after coming-out week indicates it was planned beforehand to have a malicious effect on the GLBT community,” Smith said. “The GLBT center is seen as a central place that the GLBT students can go to and feel safe, but this vandalism has impacted the way the GLBT center is perceived.”
However, Smith said both local and national responses have been far from supportive of the vandalism.
“Obviously this person intended to impose a negative message to the GLBT community, meant to tear us apart and bring us down, but I feel the opposite has occurred. The amount of support and concern for GLBT students that has come about from this incident is tremendous. Not only are students on N.C . State’s campus showing how much they care, but students across other campuses are as well,” Smith said. ”The pictures of the vandalism and oppositions against it have overtaken my newsfeed on Facebook as well as my dashboard on Tumblr —one picture of the vandalism currently has over 600 notes from people across the nation.”
Christina Williams, sophomore in psychology and self-proclaimed GLBT Ally, said she believes this incident demonstrates an urgent need for education on GLBT issues.
“When I found out about the incident, I was very upset about it. At the same time, I’m also sad for our generation. I thought that we, as a society, were getting better at accepting GLBT’s as something that is okay and a part of everyday life. But this act just shows me how uneducated someone(s) can be,” Williams said.
Cash also said he encourages others to focus not on hating the vandals, but on remembering the GLBT Center’s purpose.
“I refuse to let any of my supporters and students hate these people because we’re not going to stoop down to their level. Our organization is rooted in accepting people no matter what. It’s not just about sexual orientation,” Cash said. “We don’t discriminate against anyone—and we can’t win this battle fighting discrimination with discrimination.”
