December 16, 2008
Dear Students,
It was with great concern that we learned last week that SLCanon on LiveJournal had again become an issue, this time with threats that constitute not only serious campus conduct infractions but also possible criminal actions. The College reported these threats to the Yonkers Police Department. The LiveJournal management itself decided that its own standards were being violated and removed the site.
Sarah Lawrence is a community that places a high value on freedom of speech. However, with this freedom comes great responsibility.
Many of these anonymous posts were offensive, degrading, slanderous, and extremely harmful to the individuals who were the subjects. We are saddened that some members of the Sarah Lawrence community tolerate and perpetuate this kind of language. We urge you to think about how your words affect other people--in this case, in destructive and painful ways.
There are two courses of action should such anonymous posts resurface elsewhere. We encourage any one who feels threatened to come forward and report it. Please call or email
Larry Hoffman, Director of Public Safety, 914-395-2575 / lhoffman@sarahlawrence.edu.
Secondly, the awful invective on any anonymous postings is combated by the Community’s refusal to read it or contribute. We urge you not to spread rumors and misinformation that are posted. Should the identity of the perpetrators involved in illegal or otherwise threatening communications become known, they will be subject, at a minimum, to disciplinary proceedings as set forth in the College’s Community standards.
We are joined by the Office of Student Affairs, General Committee, and the Student Senate in sharing these concerns.
Sincerely,
Karen Lawrence
President
Pauline Watts
Dean of the College
Al Green
Dean of Studies and Student Life
cc: Faculty
Staff
-------------
A few thoughts:
- Karen Lawrence knows about Loranon. I mentioned it to her personally.
- Has she bothered to look it up?
- Isn't the entire point of this site to show that not all anonymity is "offensive, degrading, slanderous"?
- Is the attempt to attach all communication to a name a way to make us accountable as individuals, and not as a community?
- What of the culture of a place that would allow or disallow hate speech? Isn't it our duty to make hate speech socially inacceptable in any forum rather than outlawing the forum?
- Is the "great responsibility" of free speech individual or collective?
- I am disappointed in Karen for her lack of subtlety here. These questions are grave, but so is our self-expression--and it is our own job to police ourselves.
- What do y'all think?
Posts
I graduated and I wish the GS/Loranon had been around when I was at SLC. The original ORIGNINAL SLCanon post came out of a really beautiful place; it originated on the Oberlin LJ community as just another anonymous meme: "post your thoughts, confessions, etc..." I know the girl who started it and to this day still consider her one of my dearest friends. It devolved into yuckiness there too. I've been called all sorts of names, had epic-length essays written about my "failure" as a human being, and untruths spewed into the public forum, but this makes things better. It really does. It just makes me sad that seemingly the whole draw of anonymity is the ability to be evil without being caught. I am a huge proponent of free speech but I am all for KL and the LJ TOS (sounds like a funk band) getting involved if there is libel and threatening language.
ReplyDeleteNEW YORK TIMES December 18, 2008
ReplyDeleteProtest at the New School Seeks Kerrey's Ouster
By THE NEW YORK TIMES
About 75 students barricaded themselves in a dining hall at the New School on Wednesday night, holding what they called an occupation to protest the leadership of the institution's embattled president, Bob Kerrey.
The protest, which began about 8 p.m., echoed dissidence among many of the school's faculty members, who in the past week have cast votes of no confidence in Mr. Kerrey's ability to lead the school in Greenwich Village, which he has run since 2001.
Large recycling containers and tables blocked doorways, and banners went up, some reading "Books Not Bureaucracy."
"You are going about this the wrong way," a school official told the students.
As word of the protest spread and the group grew larger, a list of demands was produced. Those included Mr. Kerrey's removal as well as the ouster of James Murtha, the university's executive vice president, and Robert Millard, the treasurer of the school's board of trustees. The students said they wanted more of a voice in school matters and full disclosure of the school's investments.
"This is about starting a dialogue," said Marcus Michelson, a student in a master's program at the school. "And to do that you have to be seen as an equal. People just don't give equality away, you have to take it."
Bacchus,
ReplyDeleteLove your thoughts. Karen's are much more lukewarm. I think you totally hit on what's important, as opposed to the letter from her that could almost have been copied and pasted from a handbook. Rock the word.
Patrick
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