Senior Iris Halpern has filed sexual harassment complaints against The Primary Source with both the Dean of Students Office and Tufts' Office of Equal Opportunity after written remarks and a cartoon - allegedly depicting her body - appeared in the magazine's most recent issue.
The Oct. 11 edition of the Source contained two comments referring to "well-endowed female SLAM members" and "oh-so-tight tank tops" - references that Halpern says were aimed at her.
Saying that the remarks do not refer specifically to Halpern, Source Editor-in-Chief Sam Dangermond denied the allegations last night. "Her name was used only once in our magazine, apart from the articles," he said. The specific reference in the "From the Elephant's Mouth" section, "referred to the clothing, not to her body or to her anatomy," he said.
Halpern is a vocal member of the Student Labor Action Movement (SLAM), a campus organization lobbying to raise wages for Tufts' OneSource custodians. Previous issues of the Source, a conservative, semimonthly magazine, have criticized and ridiculed SLAM's politics and members.
In addition to the two written passages, the issue published a cartoon that Halpern says is a degrading caricature of her breasts. "They showed my breasts everywhere and made references to my body," Halpern said yesterday.
According to Halpern, Dangremond admitted in a phone conversation that the cartoon depicted her body and that the written material specifically referenced her. Dangremond, however, denies making those comments.
Halpern said the magazine's portrayal was especially offensive because members of her family have had surgery to alleviate problems related to their large breasts. "I had to work so hard to respect my body because I'm one of the only people in my family who has not had breast reduction [surgery]," she said.
Halpern told Dangremond about the complaint last Thursday, but yesterday, the Source editor said he did not know when it was actually filed. "She did not say when or what she was filing," he said. "Truthfully, I have not been informed."
Saying that his magazine has a right to offend, Dangremond defended the Oct. 11 issue. "The Source does not have any problem being offensive," he said. "Hurting someone's feelings is not something that I am concerned about.
"Perhaps it was unnecessarily rude in some way," he added. "We do not want to attack people just to hurt people."
According to the Source's mission statement, the magazine works to "address campus issues... with an appropriate amount of humor." Dangremond said the policy leaves it "up to the discretion of what the Editor-in-Chief deems appropriate."
Though Halpern claims that Dangremond apologized to her on the phone, Dangremond told the Daily that he gave no such apology. "I'd be willing to examine the possibility of giving an apology, but I'm not sure yet if that is what we are going to do," he said. "I did not admit guilt in any way."
Director of the Women's Center Peggy Barrett helped Halpern write a two-page complaint, which was filed with Dean of Judicial Affairs Veronica Carter.
Alison Clarke, chair of the Tufts Community Union Judiciary (TCUJ), said the Source's constitution does not include specific rules governing its content.
Clarke said that University policy would ultimately guide the TCUJ's decision, if it hears the case. The Tufts Policy on Sexual Harassment does not specifically mention or provide guidelines for University publications.
If the issue is not resolved through meetings in the Dean of Students Office, Clarke said the TCUJ could handle the complaint, since it often hears cases involving student groups.
According to Tufts policy, anything that "creates an intimidating, hostile, or offensive environment in which to work or to learn" including "offensive jokes and comments" and "display of pictures of a sexual nature" may constitute sexual harassment. Complaints are filed with the Dean of Students Office and are forwarded to the appropriate committee.
Nicolas Ferre contributed to this article.
