Editor’s note: The length requirement was waived for this letter due to space availability.

Tolerance is needed

I would like to raise issue with apparent promotion of hate speech on campus grounds, especially by people, who are not in any way affiliated with the University. This issue has bothered me and many of my fellow students for some time now. It’s a common site at this University that one will venture onto the Brickyard on a sunny afternoon and instead of being able to enjoy peace and quiet on such a beautiful day, one will be assaulted by yelling, screaming and various signs, promoting intolerance, discrimination and hate. This letter in particular was set off by Friday’s “preacher,” whose name I did not bother to find out, but I am sure it is known to the Campus Activities office, which has to approve this kind of “public address.” While I understand the desire by the University administration not to infringe on free speech rights, one has to realize that free speech is a privilege that should be exercised carefully with responsibility and respect. It’s not something that should be used in vain, nor something that should be used to verbally assault, humiliate and intimidate other fellow citizens (students). After all, your right to extend your arm stops where my nose begins. While homophobia and promotion of religious intolerance and fundamentalism might not seem like a serious issue to some and may in fact even pander to self-righteous attitudes of many who hold important positions in the state of North Carolina and even at this University, they do present a danger to public peace and well-being. If you need proof, simply reflect back on the case of the late Matthew Sheppard, a 22-year-old student at the University of Wyoming, who was brutally murdered in 1998, because he was gay. There is no real difference among the above-mentioned cases. I do believe that the University should try to foster a learning and social environment that is free of such external ideological influences. Only that way can we hope to shape a society that is free of bigotry and discrimination; a society where “liberty and justice for all” is not just an empty phrase, but a reality!

Thus I want to call out to all of the fellow students, faculty and staff, who are sick and tired of having to be subjected to this crap, to send in letters to Campus Activities and the Student Government, asking them to please stop approving public addresses and gatherings by such individuals and groups.

Harry LusicGraduate Student, Chemistry