President and Student Denounce Acts of Vandalism

Author: [no author name found]

I was troubled to learn recently that the Middlebury Open Queer Alliance (moqa) closet, placed outside McCullough last week, was vandalized. Though the perpetrators, however numerous, may eventually be identified, such acts reflect poorly on our entire community. A college campus must be a place where the civil expression of one's beliefs, no matter how controversial, is not only permitted but encouraged.
Dissidents who hide behind the veil of anonymity and employ tactics of intimidation violate the principle of civility, put that freedom of expression at risk and deserve condemnation. Let us hope that the lesson learned from this unfortunate incident discourages us neither from expressing our views forthrightly, nor from insisting upon an exemplary degree of consideration for one another when we disagree.

President John McCardell

Middlebury College disappoints me. When I mentioned building the closet, we anticipated its destruction.
Thank you, Middlebury, for your ongoing drunken stupidity and for your fullfilment of our prediction.
President McCardell should come out against this violence and hate that silently, yet powerfully, permeates our campus. The emotional health of our student body depends on it.
I am proud to be queer but currently, I am not proud to be a queer Middlebury student.

Aubrey Threlkeld is a senior at Middlebury College. He is a member of the Middlebury Open Queer Alliance.