Has the craziness ended yet? Following the publication of a heinously offensively April Fool’s edition, the goings-on of The Maneater are totally pertinent to the climate of the campus as a whole.
In the attempt to find the most good that can come out of the situation, I first want to comment on how _happy_ I am with the campus’ response. Kathy Rudd’s letter to the editor had dozens of signatures from students representing multiple facets of campus, including several professional MU staff members. Other letters that have followed came from Women’s Center staffers and our very own Chancellor Brady J. Deaton. When the Chancellor writes a letter to the editor, you know you’ve fucked up.
I see all of this backlash, even if it only manifests in letters, as a momentous sign on the state of campus culture.
It’s 2012, and you can’t slap slurs against the LGBTQ community out in public anymore without getting yourself in deep shit.
It was particularly difficult to handle the slur “carpeteater” since, in case you missed it, MU is in the middle of its annual Pride Month celebration. While the timing sucks, I feel so encouraged by the validation against harmful language in a public forum that I can’t help but feel as if maybe Mizzou is becoming a safer place than it was years ago.
I recently had the opportunity to speak with a 2001 alumna who worked with LGBTQ issues at MU in the ‘90s, back when sexuality wasn’t even protected under the university’s code of conduct. She expressed how back in her day, hate against the LGBTQ wasn’t discussed or publicized or publicly condemned until things were serious. Murder-serious.
This is not meant to belittle the offensiveness that The Maneater April Fool’s edition has embodied this year, but I feel that the context helps to A) feel less pissed off, B) acknowledge that change is a slow process and C) realize how Mizzou has begun to develop a stronger culture of respect and responsibility (yeah, I’m going to invoke the values) amongst its students and staff.
After their resignations, further news of former Editor-in-Chief Travis Cornejo and former Managing Editor Abby Spudich’s possible foray into student conduct troubled me. Condemning the poor choices of a few members of The Maneater staff is only part of the equation for the campus to move forward. Sending editors through conduct would’ve only reinforced notions of diversity acceptance as punitive measures. As a person who wants Mizzou to augment campus with a culture of acceptance, I don’t see expelling those involved with this debacle as a step forward for widespread understanding.
While I understand the need for Travis and Abby to resign, the mentality of throwing offenders away doesn’t sit well with me. Removing them from the equation, forcing their resignation and all of the associated vilifying does nothing to change what anyone believes. Condemnation is needed to affirm what the campus stands for, but we need communication as well. Dialogue is essential to fostering understanding. The Diversity Peer Educators have taught this sort of thing through years of diversity facilitation.
What the hell do we do then? I want to see people learn, to continue this trend of campus intolerance toward non-inclusivity and to continue this conversation. The new heads of The Maneater for the 2012-2013 year, Editor-in-Chief Kelly Olejnik and Managing Editor Pat Iversen, want to host a forum to get public feedback over the matter. I’m all about it.
Talking about issues candidly — not through planned apology letters and columns — will lead us to real solutions.
