Spring Break
TAKING AIM: North Quad swastika somehow fails to stir public outcry
by Yoni Goodman
Forum | 2/3/04
Posted online at 3:39 AM EST on 2/3/04
/ Last updated at 8:47 AM EST on 2/3/04
While most of campus has been silent, I applaud the public reactions of an unfortunately small number of people. In an articulate e-mail to the student body, Mays condemned this act saying, "We must not allow mean-spirited individuals to create distrust and feelings of apathy within our community." Furthermore, North Quad Director Rusmir Music forcefully wrote to his residents, "Clearly, this and similar expressions of hate will not be tolerated in the Brandeis community."
On campus walkways, in dining halls and in classrooms, I have heard the following question asked, and though it is troublesome, I will pose it here: Why is the response to this incident especially lacking as compared to the responses to the fliers, articles and hate scribblings on last semester's proverbial wall?
While it too elicited weak response, there was another message of hate etched into this shameful year of intolerance at Brandeis. The words "Jew U" were carved into Chapels Field one snowy night.
Perhaps this sheds light on the passive reaction discussed above.
I have often heard it posited at Brandeis that Jewish faculty and students on this campus must necessarily feel comfortable in number and voice. I have heard students voice the opinion that since Brandeis is "so Jewish" the campus should be worrying more about its less represented students.
In the heat of last semester's racially-charged discussions, a line of analysis was put forth time and again. The reasoning was that if there had been an anti-Semitic incident, Brandeis administrators and students would be much more forceful in their response.
Whether these assumptions have basis in logic or reason, they have proven wrong. There is no group, no matter how big or small that is immune to hate. And as these assumptions are painfully erased, so should any notion this campus has of ignoring a community's' right to respect merely because of its size.
As a Jew and as a person I am not comfortable at Brandeis if swastikas are to be painted on its walls. But, towering high above this despicable act of hate, is the silent crime committed by those on this campus who failed to speak out against it.
On campus walkways, in dining halls and in classrooms, I have heard the following question asked, and though it is troublesome, I will pose it here: Why is the response to this incident especially lacking as compared to the responses to the fliers, articles and hate scribblings on last semester's proverbial wall?
While it too elicited weak response, there was another message of hate etched into this shameful year of intolerance at Brandeis. The words "Jew U" were carved into Chapels Field one snowy night.
Perhaps this sheds light on the passive reaction discussed above.
I have often heard it posited at Brandeis that Jewish faculty and students on this campus must necessarily feel comfortable in number and voice. I have heard students voice the opinion that since Brandeis is "so Jewish" the campus should be worrying more about its less represented students.
In the heat of last semester's racially-charged discussions, a line of analysis was put forth time and again. The reasoning was that if there had been an anti-Semitic incident, Brandeis administrators and students would be much more forceful in their response.
Whether these assumptions have basis in logic or reason, they have proven wrong. There is no group, no matter how big or small that is immune to hate. And as these assumptions are painfully erased, so should any notion this campus has of ignoring a community's' right to respect merely because of its size.
As a Jew and as a person I am not comfortable at Brandeis if swastikas are to be painted on its walls. But, towering high above this despicable act of hate, is the silent crime committed by those on this campus who failed to speak out against it.
