Posters with information on the C3 program and the Intersex Day of Remembrance/Visibility were vandalized in the Babcock Hall kitchen. SPS is encouraging students to come forward with information.
Meg Itoh
News Editor
Steve Glick, Director of Security and Protective Services (SPS), notified students on April 4 through email that an incident of vandalism involving display cases maintained by the Office of Multicultural Student Affairs and the Office of Sexuality and Gender Inclusion took place in Babcock Hall.
Glick said the display cases and a window were egged. “We are currently working on a time frame from sometime Saturday afternoon to Sunday afternoon. We are working to tighten that timeline up a bit,” he said.
According to Shadra Smith, director of Multicultural Student Affairs, the eggs covered a large portion of the sliding doors but the posters themselves were unharmed. “Thankfully, the poster displays within the glass-protected case were not affected. There was egg residue inside, but it did not reach the actual posters,” she said.
The posters displayed information about the C3 program as well as “some outdated information about the Office of Multicultural Student Affairs,” said Smith.
Melissa Chesanko, director of Sexuality and Gender Inclusion, said the display case also contained a large trifold poster from Intersex Day of Remembrance/Visibility. The poster “had information on those days, gender, sexuality, my office, and some past events that had occurred,” she said. Chesanko said the eggs were inside of the case, on the window, and on the poster as well.
“As stated on the OMSA Facebook page, the act was disrespectful to the entire Wooster community, not just those that are heavily involved with the office or the CDI,” said Smith. “One of the graduate qualities of the College includes the following: ‘Understand and respect diverse cultural and religious traditions.’ Acts such as the one committed this past weekend inform [us] that our office is needed to help students adhere to the values of the institution, as well as to advocate, educate and engage the campus on topics related to diversity and inclusion.”
“It is important that we advocate on behalf of all students by understanding the ways actions like this create a negative climate while also recognizing the broader cultural context that is marginalizing in intersectional ways, such as to queer students of color,” said Chesanko.
“Being a residence hall there are no cameras inside of the building and we will have our student officers and regular officers try and increase their patrols in the building,” said Glick.