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THURSDAY Feb.27, 2003
1
Cabrini College s Student Newspaper
Vol.XLIX Number 18
• Help for education majors, page 4
• Cabrini hosts 'Good Day,' page6
Diversity panel explores coming out KATIE REING PHOTO EDITOR
PHOTO COUP.TESY Of MARIACHAMBEIIS
Discrimination against public displaysof affection are one of the many problems gays and lesbians face coming out. Senior Maria Chambers, who came out three years ago, pictured with her girlfriend,says that she experienced harassment by members of the Cabrini community.
To meet the need of "a significant, silent group of gay students at Cabrini," Cabrini's annual Cultural Kaleidoscope week featured a gay and lesbian forum. "I felt there was a need for this [forum]," said Suzanne Mallaghan-Rasco, a psychologist in the Rooymans Center who organized the event. It was held last Thursday, Feb. 20. The forum, titled "Talk Back Live," was formulated to discuss issues with being gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender in today's society. The forum was sponsored by the Cabrini Counseling Services. The forum included a panel of speakers facilitated by John
Watson, the assistant director of counseling and director of drug and alcohol services at Drexel University. "We're here as a group of folks to comment on our experience," Watson said. The panel consisted of four other members including Kerry Wilson, a 21year-old Drexel student. The group discussed their backgrounds from their jobs to their religious beliefs and their ideas of sexuality. "Being gay is not just having sex with someone of the same gender," Watson began. "It is a long term sexual and romantic attraction to someone of the same sex."
see STUDENTS, page 2
Hate crime strikes Xavier walls CATHARINE HERNSON PERSPECTIVESEDITOR
For the first time in at least three years, Cabrini College was the site of a hate crime, as the electronic records for such actions only go back to January 2000. The words "white power" and "niga" were written on the wall alongside a swastika in Xavier Hall on Feb. 7. In a possibly related incident the word "fag" was written on a student's door in black magic marker. Both incidents occurred in the lower south wing of Xavier. "In one word what happened was 'disgusting,"' Robin Cook, freshman Xavier Hall resident, said. "I know that personally, it would not affect me as much as some other students, but I can't believe that in the environment
that we live in, people could have that much disregard for other people. There is just no excuse," The general feeling towards the incident around campus has been much the same, all the way up to the administration. "I feel very badly to know that someone in our community would have done this," Dr. Richard Neville, vice president of Student Development, said. "If that's the way they are thinking I feel badly for them, and I would like to try and educate them on the sense of acceptance and respect that Cabrini is built on. It's what we're all about. Its just a shredding of our community. It's even worse that we don't yet know who it is." Following the incident, Mike Quickel, resident director of Xavier, called an emergency hall meeting with his building to dis-
cus the incidents of the night. The meeting let residents know how upset the community was about the lack of consideration for the core values of the college. Also the meeting went over the behavior of the hall's residents in general. On Feb. 7, there were multiple infractions, with underage drinking, visitation violations, smoking in the building, harassment and disrespecting a college official. Two.guests had been signed into the building under a resident of the hall using a false name. As a consequence for the behavioral issues, visitation was taken away from the hall indefinitely. Since then visitation was reinstated. see HATE, page 2 KATIERBNGIPHOTOEDITOR
Xavier Hall was the site of the first hate crime on campus in at least three years. Records of such activities have only been kept for the past three years.