Between 5 p.m. on April 23rd and 8 a.m on April 24th, the LGBTQ Resource Center was defaced. An event calendar for the center had the phrase, “Fags and Homos” written in black ink across the entire front of it.
Student Programs recently began enforcing their hours of operation from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. after students filmed a Harlem Shake video which some employees found offensive after hours in the hope of preventing any similar incidents.
Numerous members of LGBTQ were shocked and angered by this incident. Ali Collucci, the director of the center was especially shaken up. She gave a brief description of how she found out about the situation and how she was completely shocked that anyone would do such a thing, especially if they were a member of Student Programs.
“The only way this could have happened is if someone got into the center from the kitchen or through The Watchdog [room] with their door code,” stated Collucci. “I was actually heading my up to Student Programs and I saw another member of the Center bolting across the cafeteria, and she told me I needed to be up in the center right away. I ran in, and she was on the phone with V, who is a leadership member. I ran in and saw people trying to erase the words on the calendar and my heart sunk. It was hard to read, but when you see those words all the time you instantly know what they say.”
Sam Crenshaw, a member of the Resource Center, said, “I feel less safe on campus. I hadn’t felt safe to begin with, but having one of the few spaces that I feel safe at vandalized after strict measures to ensure no abuse of the space happened, doesn’t help. Not only does it say that our students are immature, it says they’re close-minded and irresponsible.”
Collucci stressed how she usually closes down the center and that there were a couple people in there after 5 p.m. but did not notice anything conspicuous. “I came in after 5:30, after my class, to close down the Center, and I did not notice anything,” Collucci stated. Collucci had also said that Nora Lance, assistant director of Student Programs, said that she had been there with three others until after 7 p.m. but it could not have been them so it must have been someone in Student Programs after 7 p.m.
“It’s extremely unsettling to me. I don’t know if it was meant as a joke or a threat? Regardless of how it was meant, both as a queer student and the director of the center, it is extremely unsettling to know it happened and I have other members who feel unsafe in the center. I find myself looking around trying to point out who may have done or who may have not.”
Security has yet to comment on this issue. Other members of Student Programs would not comment either as the investigation is still open. Security has not updated members of the Resource Center on the investigation.
