A Message of the QRC, By Way of DOS

I get why the Dean of Students is doing this, but I think it best that they avoid sending out an email from such groups. I'd hate to have my mailbox inundated with political stuff.

Dear CMC Students, Staff, and Faculty:

Over the course of this month, there have been at least 5 suicides, nationally, of young people who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered or queer.   As members of our community hear stories, see images and read accounts of these suicides, it can trigger many emotions and thoughts.  As you walk through the rest of this week and next, keep your ears open and your eyes sensitive to the subtle cues that may help identify a student, friend, peer, partner, or any one close to you in the community that may be in distress. 

There is a Dean on call 24 hours a day and a Resident Assistant on call 7 days a week between 5:00 p.m. and 8:00 a.m.  Both can be accessed by calling Campus Safety at (909) 607-2000 and asking to speak to the on-call Dean or Resident Assistant.  If you need to talk to a professional counselor please contact the Monsour Counseling  and Psychological Services  (MCAPS) Center .   The MCAPS on-call therapist can be accessed by calling Campus Safety at any time.  Another great resource is The Trevor Project which operates a national 24-hour, toll free confidential suicide hotline for gay and questioning youth.

The QRC is taking part in the “It Gets Better” project. This is a video project that targets LGBTQ youth, reassuring them that it gets better.  Videos will be uploaded to the QRC You Tube page and to the “It Gets Better” site. If you want to record a video  please stop by and see the QRC Program Coordinator/Graduate Assistant, Marina Wood, (Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, or Fridays from 1-6:00 p.m.) or if you want to record your video yourself, send it to Marina and she can upload it for you.

Our hearts go out to the families and friends who have lost someone to homophobic or transphobic harassment and bullying.   Working together, we can create campus environments safe for all regardless of sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression.

Sincerely,

Adriana di Bartolo                                                                           

Coordinator, Queer Resource Center                                    

Mary J. Spellman

Dean of Students

Some Past Ath Speakers Make Fools of Themselves At National Mall

The speakers in question are Julian Bond and Jesse Jackson. Hope you enjoy.



Julian Bond is one to talk about divorce, having been through one himself.

More On Dean Spellman's Record At Sarah Lawrence

Let the record show that I was right about Dean Spellman's tenure at Sarah Lawrence. Remember, too, that I thought her appointment would be a good thing and the more I read about Spellman's time at Sarah Lawrence, the more I like her. We have a Dean of Students who understands that the purpose of schooling is to get an education and that anything destructive of these ends has got to go.

Here's a comment from the website, The Forum. It's from someone purporting to be a Sarah Lawrence alum.

I don't recall the particular pumpkin-carving event, but Mary's tenure at Sarah Lawrence coincided with all of the following happenings:

- The cancellation of Sleaze Ball, an event that celebrated sexual diversity, on the grounds that "too many kids were ending up in ER" (I think the highest count was eight on the evening in question, but my understanding is that more stringent alcohol policies were already in place by then).
- It became increasingly difficult to find a suitable location to hold our annual 24-hour Porn Marathon (talking about that makes me feel a bit silly)--my first year at the college, the location changed two or three times at least, on the explicit instruction of the Dean of Students' office.
- The alcohol policy became VERY STRINGENT over the what, four-five years she was at the school. It's by no means a dry campus now, but trying to get a sufficient amount of alcohol at school events tends to be an uphill battle.
- A shift in security-student relations. Security became less friends with us, and more disciplinarians.

Make of this what you will. The only reason anybody at Sarah Lawrence was sad to see her go was that nobody who met her successor thought that there had been any kind of improvement.