Members of Colors, a newly formed student group composed of leaders from seven campus minority organizations, want to make hate-speech a punishable crime on campus and to do so, they have sponsored a student petition to the administration to change College policy.
About 200 students attended Colors' meeting last night in the basement of Cutter-Shabazz Hall, which was filled to capacity.
Members of the group announced a rally to oppose recent "hate incidents" on campus. The rally will be held on Friday at noon in front of Parkhurst administration building, and Colors' members strongly encouraged all members of the Dartmouth community to attend.
The presidents and vice presidents of Afro-American Society, African and Caribbean Students' Organization, the Dartmouth Asian Organization, the Korean American Students Association, La Alianza Latina, the Milan South Asian Students organization and Native Americans at Dartmouth comprise the membership of Colors.
Dean of the College Lee Pelton attended last night's meeting, during which he told the audience, "I am very supportive and encouraged by this group."
"I've never seen this before in four years, and it's good to see it," Pelton said. "I hope to see all of these faces, and more faces, outside of my office Friday at noon."
Aam President John Barros '96, who served as the meeting's moderator, said, "We will no longer accept an intolerable community."
Members of Colors specifically addressed the recent spate of racist, sexist and homophobic incidents on campus at last night's meeting.
On Martin Luther King Jr. Day, an unnamed student wrote racial slurs on the door of two Asian students, Jon Jun '98 and Michael Yoo '98, who lived in Little Hall. The student who wrote the messages has since privately admitted to the act.
Yoo responded by working with Colors and on Jan. 30 composed the first draft of the petition, Barros said.
"Surely, such acts of hate cannot be accepted at Dartmouth," Barros said.
Reading from the petition, Barros condemned the administration for responding to the incident in Little and other recent incidents in a manner that was "inadequate and apathetic."
"We want to make sure these students, these actions are dealt with in a decisive way," Barros said.
Colors offered the petition to the audience, and many people signed it.
President of the Milan South Asian Students organization Neil Desai '98 told the audience about the alleged reading of a sexist and racist poem at a meeting in Beta Theta Pi fraternity over the summer.
"The College did not take any action," Desai said. "It did not violate any codes, said the deans."
Desai also discussed how unknown perpetrators last term broke the window of a woman living in Lord Hall because she had hung in the window a Dartmouth Rainbow Alliance flag.
Continuing with his list of incidents, Desai also condemned the scribbling of homophobic slurs, such as "Kill the faggots," found in the Gold Coast Cluster on doors bearing "Gay Friendly Space" stickers.
The petition demands that the administration change College policy to include a hate-speech code, which would discipline students who commit such acts.
Many students in the audience questioned the legality of a hate-speech code because of its ramifications regarding the First Amendment.
"No college speech code has ever withstood the test of a court of law ... no college hate-speech code has ever withstood the test of a court of law," Kishan Putta '96 said.
Last night's meeting was specifically for members of the seven organizations, but Colors member Patricia Frausto '97 said before the meeting, "We won't necessarily bar anyone from the meeting."
Kirsten Doolittle '96, one of the handful of white students in attendance, asked Colors, "Where do you see white people in this organization?"
Frausto responded by saying, "We are students of color helping each other first ... branching out after we have our needs figured out."
Barros said the organization is still in its early stages of formation and only including the seven groups "is a starting point." He said the group may expand later.
Pelton refuted claims that the administration has done nothing in response to the incidents of hate.
"That is absolutely not true," Pelton said. "We've done everything that we can do within our power, within the rules of the College ... we are not going to change the rules mid-stream."
Pelton reiterated that Dartmouth has no policy against hateful speech or literature.
Pelton said in the case of the alleged Beta poem, the College could take no action against the student or the house. However, the incident in Little constituted vandalism and is punishable.
Morning Washburn '98 said, "How come their names weren't exposed? I think their names should be known."
Pelton said he knew the identity of the student who wrote the slurs in Little and would soon meet with him to try and convince him to come forward and admit it to the community.
If the perpetrator chooses not to address the Dartmouth community, "then I will have a decision to make," Pelton said, "and you will know that decision when I make it."
