I was dismayed to read that homophobic and other offensive graffiti had made a return to the UR campus. I suppose such incidents never disappear completely. There will always be some among us who find it funny, amusing or even cathartic to express anger and bigotry in such an anonymous fashion. And I admit I have no answers on how such actions can be stopped. Still I had hoped that the environment for minority students had improved since my days on the River Campus and I suppose it has despite the actions of a few bad apples. Back in 1982/83 when some of us worked to reconstitute a gay and lesbian student organization our posters and fliers were routinely torn down in an attempt to silence us or frighten us back into invisibility. That effort failed and only served to make us more determined to succeed–and survive. In an April 1983 interview in the Campus Times I noted that gay people were not going to go away. Graffiti or no graffiti those words are truer today than they were nineteen years ago.
Sincerely,Bob DardanoClass of 1977
