|
|
Third
World House Vandalized
by Dwayne Brice
Last Saturday night, Third World house residents walked
into their second floor bathroom and found that paper towel dispensers
had been ripped out of the wall, all of the toilet paper had been
removed from the stalls then used to clog the toilets and vandalize
the bathroom, and an empty beer can had been thrown in a corner.
Initially, I thought it was a stupid prank. Id heard that
one of the residents shoes was taken and thrown into the bathroom,
so some of us decided to go upstairs to see what had happened. And
in less than half an hour (from the time the resident found her shoe
missing), someone or a group of people had ripped the paper towel
dispenser off of the bathroom wall, and thrown all of the toilet paper
rolls into all of the toilets and into one of the sinks, Residential
Assistant and senior Maricar Camaya said.
Third World House residents were left shaken by he incident. Though
there was little monetary loss from the vandalism, this event made
me feel both agitated and unsafe, sophomore Vida Vazquez said.
This act follows a series of thefts that swept through south campus
program houses over Winter Term. Items ranging from digital phones
to laptops were stolen from locked dormitory rooms over the winter
break. This is not the first time something like this has happened.
Over Winter Term, numerous residents of Third World House and African
Heritage House had valuables taken from their rooms, with no explanation
from ResLife other than we lost our master key. This is
ridiculous, Vazquez said.
Third World House residents reported that they did not see or hear
anything while they were in their rooms and around the dormitory complex.
I just dont understand how so much could have happened
without anyone hearing anything, sophomore Janice Reddick said.
Students in Third World House believe that these recent events are
indicative of the lack of respect that ResLife gives to the dormitory.
This incident brings attention to the fact that there is little
to no institutional support for Third World Program House. I doubt
this article would even be written if the author were not a Third
World House resident. Unlike all other program houses, we have no
faculty-in-residence who supports and plans our programming and works
with ResLife. All house recruitment and programming is organized completely
by students. Most students on campus have no idea what Third World
House is and we are in constant danger of being shut down if we do
not meet programming quotas, Vazquez said.
Members of the house are also dismayed at the Safety and Securitys
response to the event. The security officer that responded was
lax. It did not seem like it was even an issue to him. The bathroom
was not even cleaned for days later. The officer did not even offer
his name. We should not have to ask who you are, we are the victims,
Reddick said.
Safety and Security is still looking into the specifics of the incident.
Director of Safety and Security Robert Jones said, We are still
investigating. If we run into a dead end, it might be turned over
to the police department.
As a tight-knit community, members of the program house feel threatened
on more than just a physical level. Im pretty upset with
the situation not only because of the vandalism, but because it was
specifically directed at Third World House, a safe space primarily
for people of color. I feel like it reflects the lack of support for
spaces like Third World House, institutionally and otherwise. This
is one of the few places that some people can feel comfortable to
express their own beliefs. That feeling was violated this past Saturday,
Camaya said. ResLife had no comment.
|
|
|