As most of us know, in October of 2012 vandals took the rainbow pride flags from the Unity House door and tore them behind F Block in Kenyon’s New Apartments. The campus was taken by surprise when the flags were found muddied and ruined. At Kenyon, we take pride in how accepting we are as a community. And sadly, over the September 14th weekend, several Hispanic flags hanging in Peirce were taken down as well. It is not yet known if it was done maliciously, and Dean Toutain sent out an email last week to inform us about an investigation going into the removal of the flags, which were on display as a part of a celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month.
The good news? Just like last year’s residents of Unity House, these disrespected members of our community will not hesitate to keep their heads up and demonstrate to campus that nothing will keep them down. On Wednesday morning, the Discrimination Advisors, Adelante, and other students helped place miniature flags to hang along Middle Path. I spoke with Patricia Mota, the Co-President of Adelante, and asked her what the act of taking the flags down meant to her and the club as a whole. She responded that the flags are “a facet of [our] identity” and that whoever took them down was “dismissing a part of [our] identity.” At the end of the day, this theft was an act of disrespect whether it was done with malicious intent or was a drunken act on a weekend night.
The other day in Intro to Legal Studies, Professor Sheffield had us raise our hands if we didn’t feel “safe” on campus. Only two or three people raised their hand out of a class of 23. Thinking back on these events, I can’t help but asking—how safe do we all feel expressing who we are after such acts of vandalism are taking place? If people are tearing down flags which people – our friends – identify with, are we proving to be as an open of a community as we believe ourselves to be? No one is laughing at it or handing out high-fives. We are an accepting community, but we won’t accept those who feel the need to take down someone’s identity.