By Benjamin H. Newell
Disclaimer: The following letter to the editor was written in response to the first message President Ed Seidel released to the University of Wyoming community and submitted for publication before the second message from Seidel was released.
By now, everyone on campus has heard about the incident that happened last Friday, December 2nd, in the Union. Today, December 7th, I am writing to voice disappointment in the upper administration’s response to the incident, specifically President Seidel.
Most of you probably do not know who I am, but you have seen me often working at the Union Information Desk. Last Friday, I was working during the incident and was one of the first people to respond. I am writing this without approval from my manager, my views do not reflect the university, but I believe it is vital to set the record straight and speak in defense of the student, the student body, and the trans community.
Seidel said in his letter to the community, “The individual displaying the sign was immediately asked to remove the student’s name. He complied.” This is far too gracious of a response to someone who targeted a student on campus to direct hate toward them. It is also blatantly false.
When I was alerted to the sign by an understandably upset student, I immediately tried to get the individual to take it down. He refused, citing that he had First Amendment protections. I expressed that while he has a right to be a hateful person, he does not have the right to call out a specific person, especially a student, without their consent. I tried to appeal to humanity and decency to show that this crosses a line and that this student is just trying to live her life and isn’t harming anyone. He still did not budge.
I then explained that calling out a person by name is extremely dangerous and could cause harm to come to that person. He said he disagreed. I then responded that five people in Colorado Springs would agree about the dangers of this speech and that he should be a good person and remove or change the sign.
The individual then tried pivoting the conversation by getting me into a religious debate on trans people, which I did not stoop down to, explaining that he was not debating in good faith and that his argument rested on the logical fallacy of appeal to authority. At this point, he stopped talking to me, refusing to change or take down the sign. When this happened, the students standing around, justifiably upset about the situation, collectively decided to stand in front of the sign blocking it from view.
During all this, my coworker helped to get all prostaff in the building and the Dean of Students involved. I must commend the staff in the building. Specifically, those working in the Multicultural Affairs office and the Student Orgs Office, their support of students on campus does not go unnoticed. Dean O’Neil’s response was also admirable: getting to the building within thirty minutes of being contacted and involving the university’s legal counsel.
Even when Dean O’Neil asked the individual to change the sign, he refused. It was not until Dean O’Neil, with the help of legal counsel and UW PD, collectively told him to stop that the situation was ended. So no, President Seidel, the individual was not some gracious free speech activist that was kind-hearted and changed his tune when asked. He is a man with religiously fueled hate toward the transgender community and students of other faiths, and he has repeatedly told those students they are going to hell.
Seidel went on to say, “There truly is enough room for all of us; yet we only get to coexist civilly if we treat one another with care.” This might be true in a perfect world, but this is not an ideal world. That student, who pays tuition, should be protected and have the full support of the administration behind them. Anything other than a strong rebuke of the individual and giving action steps on how the University plans to deal with the issue, and stop it in the future, is unacceptable.
Seidel ends the message by lecturing the university community on its values of community, integrity, respect, responsibility, and social consciousness. These come across as nothing but buzzwords in his message. The student body lived up to each value, but I have yet to see Seidel live up to them. The student body rallied around their fellow community member. They showed integrity by standing up to this bigotry in a peaceful manner. They respected the individual’s person and his things, while the individual did not have the decency to return the favor. They showed responsibility by alerting the university and taking reasonable measures to ensure the hateful message could not be seen. Lastly, they showed social consciousness by respecting the trans community and understanding that while trans people may be a minority community, they deserve the same respect and dignity as any other person.
President Seidel, the campus email you sent out is a lukewarm response to a hateful bigot. A stronger statement is needed from you and UW Administration, coupled with changes to the Union Tabling Policy—see pp. 6, #15.
Let us keep in mind that bigotry has no root in logic. Especially prejudice towards a community who have done nothing to provoke this hate and simply want to be themselves and be respected. This student did not do anything to evoke this hateful act except exist. The student body did nothing wrong but voice displeasure with the speech. The audacity of your letter trying to dismiss hateful rhetoric toward the LGBTQ+ community only a few weeks after a hate crime that took place against that community just a few hours South is despicable. If you genuinely cared about the values you pretend to preach, you would be more forceful with your response and give the community steps on how you intend to handle this in the future. Anything else is complacency.
To that student whose name was unjustly defiled, I do not know you, but I am sorry this happened. You deserve better. To the students that came to her defense, be proud of yourself for standing up for what is right. To the staff members who responded quickly, your care does not go unnoticed, and we appreciate what you do. Bigotry in any circumstance is not tolerable. The student response showed that they knew this was unacceptable and that they would stand against hateful bigots. President Seidel, will you?
