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When instances of homophobia took place in a Residential Hall in the fall of 2009, Colorado College had to ask what it was going to do to stand up against hate. Inspired by the individuals in Billings, Montana, Colorado College has joined the national movement that is now in its second decade of existence, alongside colleges like Rutgers University and the University of California at Santa Barbara. A committee of students advised through the Student Life Division has brought to the forefront conversation around community values and what is and is not acceptable at Colorado College.
Since early November, the Not In Our Town (NIOT) Committee has sought to start dialogue creatively among CC students through several different measures. The committee researched past activities of Not In Our Town campaigns at other schools and in communities and developed a plan of action for implementing our own campaign. Starting in January and extending through March, the committee placed post cards with thought-provoking statements and questions in students’ Worner Center mailboxes. At the same time large posters with markers (“graffiti boards”) where students could reply anonymously and publicly to these same prompts were placed in both the Worner Center and the Library. The prompts for responses were: · Shared space means shared responsibility. Do you agree with this statement? Why or why not? · How large a problem do you think discrimination (racism, sexism, classism, etc.) is at CC? Why? · If a community doesn’t respond, then a community accepts. Silence is acceptance. Do you agree with this statement? Why or why not? · The opposite of love is not hate, it is indifference. Do you agree with this statement? Why or why not? What role have you seen indifference play at CC? · When and how does speech become dangerous? When, if ever, should it be restricted? · Is it ok to use otherwise offensive language when you “don’t mean it”? Why or why not? · Do we have shared values at CC? What are they? Are shared values important for a community? Additionally, Colorado College’s Film Union was enlisted to create a video to raise awareness about NIOT. For their video, Film Union members solicited anonymous accounts of how diversity and respect had been experienced by CC students. In the film, these “secrets” were then held up by actors (please visit: _______ to view the video, as well as responses from the post cards and graffiti boards). In the middle of seventh block (and the beginning of April), the committee planned “Stop the Hate” Day, when the video from above and responses collected as part of NIOT were shown in the main space of the Worner Center, alongside the original graffiti boards. As part of the “Stop the Hate” Day, we hosted activist/poet Andrea Gibson at Colorado College for a workshop on social justice and performance art, as well as a larger performance, where over 100 students, faculty, and staff were present. Future plans of the committee include a presentation at New Student Orientation, continuing Stop the Hate Day annually, and incorporating new members and their ideas into the goals of the committee: · Fostering a safe, inclusive, and accepting community · Taking action in the face of hate and intolerance · Inventing new ways to stand up to hate and build community