FCLC--Continuing its response to recent vandalism in McMahon Hall, the Office of Residential Life (Res Life) spread out across the Lincoln Center campus for a day of awareness on April 13. Members of the Res. Life staff handed out candy and ribbons along with hate crime facts in McMahon Hall, and about 50 students gathered to physically "Stand Up Against Hate" with a moment of silence held in the Lowenstein Café, according to Resident Assistant (RA) Nell Plumfield, FCLC '08.
"Our original intent for the event was to have a large gathering of students... on the grass of the plaza for a moment of silence," however, the event was moved inside for weather-related reasons, explained Plumfield, one of the event's main organizers. "We knew that something had to be done in response to the vandalism we were seeing in the building."
The fourth floor of McMahon, for which Plumfield is an RA, was the target of multiple acts of vandalism in early February. In April, The Observer reported that several students on the floor had the front doors of their apartments egged, and one resident awoke on the morning of Feb. 3 to find that her door had both been egged and had a swastika drawn on it with duct tape.
"I woke up around 8:30, 9:00 a.m. and opened the door to throw the trash out and it was there along with a bunch of eggs on the door," recalled Lauren Jobson, FCLC '10, in a previous interview with the Observer. "I ripped that thing off. I was completely disgusted."
In order to address residents' concerns and raise awareness, "the RAs mobilized and formed a committee to work through how we should deal with this blatant ignorance and hate," RA Emily Duncker, FCLC '08, said. "The culmination of our meetings was the silent protest where we 'stood up against hate.'"
Amy Schack, director of Res. Life at FCLC, said the idea behind "The Stand Up Against Hate" event [was] to inform our community about what occurred here and emphasize that these incidents are unacceptable." At the event in Lowenstein, she said "a powerful letter was read regarding students' feelings about these incidents, and a moment of silence was held to remember victims of hate crimes."
The moment of silence "was very open and informal," according to Plumfield, with many students coming and going during the event. However, some students said they were unaware of the event altogether.
"I hadn't heard anything about it until the last minute," said Natasha Keynejad, FCLC '10, who did not attend the moment of silence. "They put up signs about how we can't take a shower on Wednesday and Thursday night and everybody knows about that, but nobody hears about this anti-hate event."
In McMahon Hall, members of Res. Life set up a table and handed out solidarity ribbons and "fact candy" with information and statistics about hate crimes.
"I felt a sense of accomplishment when people [read] the facts on the candy when I gave it to them, and also when I saw them walk around with their ribbons on their coat or bag," Duncker said. "It brought together our community and also educated people about hate crimes."
While most students expressed support for the moment of silence even if they did not attend, some had mixed feelings about the ribbons, candy, and information table set-up in the residence hall.
"It was a little patronizing, to be honest... I was a little turned off by bribing people's alliance with candy," said Sophie Mears, FCLC '10, and a resident of the fourth floor. "On the other hand, I think the moment of silence is a great way for people to take a stand for what they believe in, rather than fighting against what they don't."
Despite these reservations, Mears agrees that "standing up" against hate is a good point for Res. Life to focus on. "Even if I was annoyed at the way they did it, they still got the message out... I took some candy and a ribbon."
According to both Plumfield and Schack, Res. Life will continue to focus on the anti-hate message in the coming school year. "We hope to keep addressing these issues," Plumfield said. "We will hopefully start again early next year educating the building about hate crimes."
Res. Life plans on using the Freshmen Mentor (FM) program along with the RAs to increase awareness in the incoming freshman class, according to Shack. "We also plan to focus on multicultural issues, including religious tolerance in both Resident Director and [RA] training, which will aid our staff in developing programs."
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