Dear Campus Times, As we all know, lately there has been noticeable increase of hate signs on our campus. From your own headlines which read, “Pride Network fight intolerance”, “Personalized hate”, “I got my pride – no one can take it away”, to educational articles about the Chinese New Year and the Pan African Expo, it is undeniable that diversity-related issues is a hot topic for The Campus Times. However, while trying to righteously bring attention to these important and often overseen subjects, The Campus Times has made a grave error, causing it to lose validity in the eyes of myself and many other students. In the February 21st issue, your comic page featured a despicable display of ignorance and hypocrisy. By including the words “BE LIKE KIKE,” the whole nature of the already not-so funny cartoon took on a whole new feeling. Defined in Webster’s dictionary as an “offensive slang used as a disparaging term for a Jew” and utilized by the Nazi’s as an aid in their mass murder of Jews during the Holocaust, the word “Kike,” is NEVER acceptable, especially when trying to add levity to a cartoon. Furthermore, as advertised by our campus Senate, there was recently anti-Semitic vandalizing on campus that featured a Swastika and the letters ‘KKK.’. Either of these two blatant hate-laden symbols could be replaced by the word KIKE and the same amount of negative and offensive emotions would be conjured up. I find it deplorable and disappointing that the editor of this newspaper let such a heated word stand, particularly during this current wave of hate on our campus. I am embarrassed for our school and feel that the half attempt of a retraction in this most recent issue is yet a further display of the lack of awareness of how much words can hurt. We all want our campus to be free of hate and therefore we ALL need to consciously watch our actions, including The Campus Times.
Sincerely,Allison GrodinClass 2004
(274-2746)
