Groups take offense at advertisements

Several campus communities experienced conflict this year due to the appearance of invitations, advertisements and other written materials that members found offensive and hurtful.

In all incidents, those involved in disseminating the materials said they did not intend to offend anyone.

"It wasn't a deliberate attempt to exclude anyone," said college senior Sibi Lawson said concerning a dinner that she organized to build coalitions between campus organizations and communities. The dinner was held at President Nancy Dye's house early first semester.

Some campus organizations - the Asian American Alliance (AAA), Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual Union (LGBU), Zami and Outrage - did not receive their invitations to the dinner, though Lawson said the invitations were sent.

The purpose of the dinner, said Lawson, was to initiate organization of a series of meetings that would help provide a space where different communities could come together and begin dialogues. But the event was interrupted midway through, when a group of some representatives from some of the organizations who did not receive invitations, in a collective effort, interrupted the dinner to state that they felt hurt as a result.

At the dinner, college junior Jeff Cabusao read a statement expressing how members of the groups who didn't receive invitations felt and asking for an explanation of what had happened.

Lawson gave several explanations for why the invitations were not received.

All invitations were mailed on Tuesday. Some groups received their invitations much later than others and felt unprepared to attend the meeting. Lawson attributed the lateness to a "snag in the mailroom."

Some invitations were not sent to current co-chairs but, through use of an out-of-date student organization directory, to former co-chairs. Others were sent to organizational boxes which went unchecked, Lawson said.

"The communication didn't happen," said Dedrick Dunbar, Third World House area coordinator.

Cabusao said, "Our voices are rarely heard, and we felt like we needed our voices to be heard. We didn't go there in the spirit of attack."

Whether intended or not, those who didn't receive invitations agreed that the slight error was too significant to be ignored. "When you're in a marginalized community, getting the invitation is very important. Not getting it is very hurtful," said sophomore Katie Howard, former LGBU co-chair.

Cabasao also said there was something intimidating about going to the president's house to build coalitions. "Power doesn't come from the top down. Power comes from the bottom up. Coalitions are built from the grassroots."

He explained, "Coalitions are built at specific historical political moments at times when people need to come together over a goal. They can't be built over dinner."

A week after the dinner, students representing campus communities and organizations met in Third World Co-op to discuss the meaning of coalition and the purpose of the alliance. Among those in attendance were members of Abusua, LGBU, Student Senate and AAA.

Lawson said, of the meeting, "It was constructive. We covered a lot of ground."

One issue that was resolved at the meeting was the meaning of coalition. Lawson said, "We agreed that coalition is something that happens in a time of crisis."

Others who attended the second meeting would not comment on the events, but the feedback was positive. "I hear it was a good meeting," Dye said.

The same week as the dinner, advertisements for a Harkness House party drew accusations of racism from members of Third World Co-op.

The poster found offensive stated "Tribal Sex at Harkness." Images on the advertisements included drawings of men and women with their genitals exposed.

Members of Third World Co-op went to Harkness during lunch to express their concerns over the posters. Following the visit, Harkness residents had a meeting to discuss how to be more sensitive in the future. Despite discussion, Harkness did not reach a consensus as to whether the posters were offensive.

"There was no malicious intent," said first-year Tommy Chung, party coordinator and illustrator of the posters. "We just wanted to make a funny poster."

But members of Third World Co-op did not find the posters funny. "The gist of it was that they were selling this party on the idea that different cultures make love differently," Marean Duarte, said a college junior and Third World Co-op member.

College junior Adrian Aveni-Deforge, a Harkness loose ends coordinator (LEC), said members of the house felt that Third World Co-op recognized the problem and told Harkness about it. He said that Third World Co-op can serve to educate people about the issue.

Cabasao, a member of Third World Co-op, said people look to Third World Co-op for education rather than thinking about their own actions. "It's a form of laziness."

Another community was disrupted for entirely different reasons the same week as the interrupted dinner and complaints about party posters.

About half of the residents of Keep Cottage approached LECs Ankur Desai and Regina Mylan, both juniors, to express concern about the contents of the Keep community journal, a book full of artwork, quotes and writings that residents contribute.

Some residents were made to feel uncomfortable due to the community journal's inclusion of pictures depicting women in submissive positions. Placed on the pictures were the faces of men and women, some of whom were Keep residents.

Sophomore Prentiss Slaughter said, "[The pictures] started as art but it all just went too far." Five residents were responsible for the placement of the pictures in the journal.

Reactions to the pictures, said the LECs, ranged from uncomfortable to scared. A few residents considered leaving the house, said Desai and Regina.

Junior Alyson Bingham said, "If I put in something offensive that scared people and made them uncomfortable, I would take it out."

Efforts were made by residents to rebuild the community through discussions and house meetings. Discussion groups were run by facilitators.

After a few discussions and meetings, Desai said, "People are talking more. People are hanging out more. I think tensions are a little relieved."

Mylan agreed, "No one's really angry anymore. … It's gotten to the point where people understand where others are coming from."

This April members of Abusua, Oberlin's black student union, raised concerns about the Bondage and Discipline/Sadism and Masochism Student Organizations (B&D/SM) "slave auction." As a result, the date of the event was changed and wording of posters were changed.

Members of Abusua said they felt offended by the use of the word "slave auction" to describe the event.

At a forum held for the two groups to discuss the posters, one student said, "I was offended by the slave auction. As an African-American, I've known the history of slavery and its effects."

One member of B&D/SM said, "It dawned on us. We were completely not thinking in that context."

Another member explained that the group did not realize the phrase would offend. "Slave is a common word in SM."

As a result of the meeting, members of B&D/SM said they will refrain from using the word slave publicly on campus.

Director of Residential Life Deb McNish, who attended the forum, said the groups will never come to an agreement about the usage of the word slave because of their differing philosophies. "There is a basic philosophical difference between the two groups."

Sophomore Sonja Krefting said, "It really bothered me that we were being condemned by people who didn't know about S&M culture."