Apparently hatred, slander and destruction of private property are the newest means of building community at Dartmouth.
The distribution of the anonymously written publication "The Shit You Don't Hear About" late Sunday night represents the second hate crime at Dartmouth in less than a week.
How dumping manure on fraternity lawns and dumping libelous trash on people's doorsteps can possibly build community is beyond me, but the authors of this trash had the audacity to call their work "An Informative Publication By and For the Dartmouth Community."
How dare these anonymous, gutless authors claim to speak for the Dartmouth Community?
These two acts of hatred should send shivers down the spine of any student who is serious about building a community on this campus, as they represent a far greater threat to community than racial slurs scrawled on a door or mud slung at a window.
Those incidents, while vile, represent the isolated acts of individual bigots. The recent incidents, however, represent an organized, premeditated and intentionally publicized attack on the entire campus by a group of students who claim to champion the cause they are actually destroying and who do not even have the courage to identify themselves.
Given the timing of the two incidents and the fact that the "lead stories" in the recent publication are about Beta and Alpha Chi, the two houses targeted by the manure-dumping, it seems likely the same group of students is responsible for both acts.
But incredibly, these vandals put a story in their publication condemning the "intolerant vandalism that pervades this campus."
Could it be possible that the same students who vandalize two fraternities condemn intolerant vandalism just a few short days later? And if different groups of students are involved, why wasn't the manure-dumping incident cited as an example of this vandalism?
Without diminishing the abhorrent nature of these recent hate crimes, there are two other issues that are even more deplorable than the acts themselves.
The first is the anonymity of the perpetrators. If the student who scrawled racial slurs in the Choates had the courage to take responsibility for his action, why must those who condemn his actions remain anonymous?
Given the libelous personal attacks leveled at several individuals in Sunday night's publication, it is unlikely we will ever know the identities of its cowardly authors. How sad that things have descended to this.
Even more disturbing is the lack of response from the administration and the Student Assembly. I think it is safe to predict that no emergency meeting or campus rally will be called to protest these hateful actions.
It seems the prevailing opining is anything goes if the cause is noble enough.
Incredibly, the same administration that immediately condemned writing on someone's door as vandalism, is hesitant to condemn the latest incidents.
About the manure-dumping, Dean of the College Lee Pelton said, "I'm trying to sort out what college rules have been violated." When I suggested vandalism he replied, "I'd need to give it some thought."
Pelton later agreed to ask Safety and Security to look into the incident.
I did not have any better luck with Safety and Security where College Proctor Bob McEwen said no one had reported the incident (which was covered on the front page of this publication), and he assumes Hanover Police are investigating. McEwen said the incident "might fall under vandalism or trespass."
Last week's manure-dumping and Sunday night's despicable publication are unacceptable behavior in a civilized society. Unfortunately, it seems clear the perpetrators will be neither identified nor punished.
So what is an intelligent Dartmouth student who truly cares about building community to do? First, ignore these loathsome actions, and pity those who performed them. They lack the courage and intelligence to fight for meaningful change in an acceptable way.
Those students who are serious should continue working toward their goal of building community in ways that do not further its destruction.
Anonymous hate crimes are not the proper method for fighting bigotry on campus. Dartmouth students should know better.
