 "Photo: Miles Wisniewski")
On Jan. 10, a 21-year-old Loyola student, along with two men from Evanston beat a 33-year-old man on a Red Line train, according to authorities and published reports. The three men allegedly called out anti-gay slurs and left the man with a bloody nose and several cuts and bruises. As a result, a Cook County judge allowed for the states’ attorney to upgrade the misdemeanor battery charges against these men to felony hate crime and aggravated battery charges.
This incident follows several unfortunate events that have taken place during the last academic year, including an incident involving an inebriated student falling onto the el tracks and another student allegedly shoplifting $700 worth of merchandise from a nearby Macy’s. Additionally, a Rogers Park resident wrote to the Phoenix in September 2009 complaining, “Residents have to pick up beer bottles, whiskey flasks, condoms, fast food containers and other kinds of garbage that [student] party-goers leave behind.” Although Loyola has a “Good Neighbor” policy in place — stating that students are responsible for upholding laws related to noise and alcohol consumption even off-campus — it is apparent that Loyola students haven’t been the best of neighbors to those in Rogers Park. And no matter what these students’ intentions were, they tarnished the reputation that other students and faculty here at Loyola work so hard to uphold. Unfortunately, these poor decisions may diminish the accomplishments of many outstanding individuals at Loyola, such as our student leaders who take part in community-service through Loyola4Chicago, Key Club, Habitat for Humanity and many other organizations.
Even more distressing than the school’s soiled reputation is that almost two months have passed since the alleged hate crime, and the university administration has still not made any public statement on the issue. When the Phoenix approached Loyola President the Rev. Michael J. Garanzini, S.J., via e-mail, he declined to comment on these charges. In light of some students’ breach of Loyola’s “Good Neighbor” policy, which states that students are to conduct themselves as “responsible members of society,” the Editorial Board believes that the university missed an important opportunity to condemn the recent alleged attack. A “hear no evil, speak no evil” tactic will not help Loyola rebuild its stature in the Chicago community.
Also disturbing is the fact that Loyola’s “Good Neighbor” policy concentrates too heavily on misdemeanor crime. The policy also does not mention tolerance for persons beyond their cultural and political beliefs. Specifically, the policy states that students are responsible for upholding laws, “especially those relating to noise, traffic, parking, zoning and consumption of alcohol.” Committing noise and alcohol consumption violations are wrong, but they pale in comparison to violent assault, which the policy omits. The policy also lacks many important criteria in addition to just “cultural” and “political” diversity. What about race, gender, ethnicity, nationality and, in this case, sexual orientation? If these aspects are included in Loyola’s “Student Promise,” a document created by Loyola students to voice the collective character of the student body, then why are they not mentioned in the “Good Neighbor” policy as well?
Whether or not the assault was a hate crime is a matter for the justice system to decide. Regardless, in light of the alleged crime, the Phoenix Editorial Board is deeply upset at the fact that someone has been allegedly victimized by one of our students. In response, we call on the administration to amend its “Good Neighbor” policy to emphasize more severe crimes as well as encourage tolerance among students beyond just “cultural” and “political” beliefs.
Loyola’s leaders need to enforce these standards in order to incur change. If Loyola’s dirty slate has anything to prove, it’s that “hear no evil, speak no evil” hardly ever results in “do no evil.”
1 comments