Members of Tufts' queer community engaged in their annual chalking of the Medford/Somerville campus Tuesday night to promote Coming Out Day festivities, but administrators say some of the chalked messages went too far.
The chalking that caught Dean of Student Bruce Reitman's attention was the phrase "A lot of gays work in Admissions," written in front of Bendetson Hall, where the Office of Undergraduate Admissions is located.
"I do not know if it was the [queer community] who wrote it, it does not matter to me if it was or if it was someone responding to it," Reitman said. "The issue at hand is profanity, which the Student Handbook explicitly forbids in terms of chalking."
Reitman had the chalking in question erased early yesterday morning.
Sophomore Gabriel Blanco, co-coordinator of Tufts Transgender Lesbian Gay Bisexual Collective (TTLGBC), agreed with Reitman's sentiments.
"The chalking outside of Admissions was completely inappropriate and was an isolated incident that was not made by a group [associated with] TTLGBC," Blanco said. "One individual took a piece of chalk and took it upon himself to do it."
But a member of the queer community, speaking on condition of anonymity, claimed responsibility for the chalking in front of Bendetson. The student said he wrote the message because "a lot of people" who work at the Undergraduate Admissions office are queer.
"Everyone's definition of offensive and inappropriate is different - it becomes a game in semantics. [Former] Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart described [pornography] as, 'I know it when I see it,'" the student said. "This is obvious in many facets around campus, such as advertisements for political causes or even frat events."
"I think the entire point of [my] chalking is to desensitize the environment in recognition of the fact that we have tons and tons of closeted students on campus despite the fact that it's a very queer-friendly campus," he said. "We have a lot of work to do in terms of normalizing homosexuality."
Senior Laura Janowitch, Blanco's TTLGBC co-coordinator, agrees. She said the administrative reaction "says something about the community at large. People definitely take offense at being outed whether it's true or not. I feel it's sad that people have to hide their identity."
Janowitch does not find the chalking in front of Bendetson personally offensive but said it brings to light a "common double-standard - you can call someone straight and it's not offensive. You call someone gay and it's immediately offensive," she said.
But Blanco promised that "We will make it sure it never happens again. Next time, we'll be chalking in groups," he said.
Other provocative chalkings included one next to a circular design on the pavement outside Bendetson next to which "Big Ol' Cock Ring" was written, and one on the steps to Tisch Library which read, "I'm bisexual and I'm not attracted you."
Senior Patrick Brown said that such chalkings are "in the spirit" of Coming Out Day. "The whole chalking experience is to sort of push people a little bit and make them feel uncomfortable and think about things they wouldn't normally consider."
"I think it's possible to go over the line but I don't really think this was that big of a deal," he said. Brown was last year's TTLGBC representative to the Tufts Community Union Senate and this year runs Men's Group, a discussion group for queer men.
Despite the controversial chalking in front of Bendetson, Reitman called the entire Coming Out Day a success. "It was a wonderful rally, and I'm proud to be part of a community with such a strong and vibrant [queer] community," he said.
