The Bilerico Project | Daily experiments in LGBTQ

Update:

Statement from Notre Dame’s president, the Reverend John I. Jenkins:

“The University denounces the implication that violence or expressions of hate toward any person or group of people is acceptable or a matter that should be taken lightly.

“In accordance with Notre Dame’s Spirit of Inclusion, a formal statement adopted by the officers of the University in 1997, at Notre Dame 'we prize the uniqueness of all persons as God’s creatures' and welcome 'all people, regardless of color, gender, religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation, social or economic class, and nationality.'

“Further, 'we value gay and lesbian members of this community as we value all members of this community. We condemn harassment of any kind' and 'we consciously create an environment of mutual respect, hospitality and warmth in which none are strangers and all may flourish.'

“The University respects The Observer’s status as an independent, student-run newspaper and appreciates that the editorial staff has issued an apology in its January 15th issue and that the cartoon’s authors also have expressed their regret. Notre Dame administrators will work with the Observer staff, as they say in their editorial, to 'move forward, and ... to promote ... a culture of acceptance and support for all.'”

These ARE undergrads, right? As a college instructor, I'm unsurprised by the inadequate apology. In some undergrad minds, the connection to Harry Reid makes perfect sense.

I'm not saying this is a good enough excuse, I'm just saying I wouldn't expect much better from kids their age, unfortunately.

The supposed "connection" to Harry Reid is ridiculous! Harry Reid was not expressing his own racism against Obama, he was expressing a political reality, the racism with which some (too many) American voters would react to Obama.

Not so with the cartoon --- the cartoon itself was a suggestion supporting hate violence, pure and simple.

I'm with Loaf. As a college professor, most of my kids have been sheltered from reality, and have no understanding of what happens out in the real world. To them, it's all a TV show in the postmodern zeitgeist. They are shocked and upset when I tell them how bad it really is in the world they're about to inhabit. They've been fed a Disneyfied culture, and they don't understand why adults lied to them. I don't imagine many professors at Notre Dame are making much effort to explain the real world effects of homophobia. Some BS from the administration about how they value all people is the best they've got. No wonder the editors of their student newspaper are publishing this garbage to the student population and no one blinks and eye. Imagine what happens when their student population grows up and gets into real positions of power.

Update 2

From Commenter Lisandro C:

The authors of the comic strip issued their apology here:

http://www.ndsmcobserver.com/viewpoint/the-mobile-party-apology-1.1011634

Apparently, the cartoon was supposed to ridicule gay intolerance. They
went a bit too far with it though...

We want to apologize for the offensive, distasteful and completely humorless joke that was made and acknowledge the grave error in its production. We cannot begin to express how apologetic we are for everyone who has been hurt by our comic and its implied message.
We do, however, believe that something positive can come from this ugly mistake and hope that we, as members of the Notre Dame community, can take this as an opportunity to readdress the complex issues surrounding homosexuality and its treatment on our campus. Intolerance of homosexuality is a major problem on Notre Dame's campus. We tried to address it in our comics — using the tool characters to emphasize a mindset that we simply find ridiculous. In our last comic, we had the human character, our voice of reason, not understand the joke because of its absurd nature. Reasons, however, are not excuses. We consistently try to write comics that rely on shock value and now that we have gone too far, we realize that we have abused the privilege and responsibility of contributing to the Observer, and therefore, the Notre Dame community as a whole. This is not a joke that should have been made either in private or public. Poking fun at someone's identity in such a discriminatory manner is not funny. We wholeheartedly apologize for our comic and are aware of and truly sorry for the hurt that it has caused.

Colin Hofman, Lauren Rosemeyer and Jay Wade
seniors
“The Mobile Party”

I also read somewhere that the reason it got published was because the editor wasn't around that day/week/whatever and the subordinates were running the show. There's someone who's not getting a promotion next semester.

"I'm just saying I wouldn't expect much better from kids their age, unfortunately."

Sorry Waymon I have to disagree: If you are old enough to attend college, you are old enough to know the difference of right and wrong.

Wait, this is the kind of joke it takes to get a comic strip at Notre Dame? That's joke's like 30 years old.

Jeez. Glad I didn't go to Notre Dame.

Oh, and put me in the "I'd rather know this hatred exists" category. Kids going to Notre Dame should know why it's ranked as one of the most homophobic schools in the country.

Well, at least the Notre Dame paper didn't go so far in its fauxpology as to suggest that the cartoon was published with the best of intentions for the purposes of stimulate dialogue, and that all responses should be made in that same spirit...

Update 3

From Commenter CPT_Doom:

Editor responsible for letting the cartoon run has resigned - just posted this morning.

Editor's Note: The Observer Editorial Board has accepted the resignation of Assistant Managing Editor Kara King. We greatly respect King's courage in writing a letter to our community and appreciate her service to The Observer.

And from King's Letter(http://www.ndsmcobserver.com/viewpoint/letter-from-the-assistant-managing-editor-1.1027337):

To The Observer community,

I am writing to apologize for my actions, which led to the inexcusable publication of a “Mobile Party” comic strip on Jan. 13. This strip was offensive and inappropriate beyond measure, and printing it perpetuated a message of intolerance, discrimination and hate.

A miscommunication between another editor and myself led to the comic running without me first reading and approving the material. Regardless, no excuse can justify the comic even being considered for publication, and the duty to censor it fell to me. I failed to do so, and am solely responsible for providing a forum for this message of hate. I was the final one to check the paper that night, and am accountable for all of its content. I regret nothing more than the oversight that led to it and apologize for disgracing the paper with its printing. The comic does not reflect my views or those of The Observer in any way, and I cannot begin to quantify the humiliation in knowing that it is, ultimately, my fault.

To those whom my actions have offended, I’m sorry. I failed as both an editor and member of the Notre Dame community by allowing this strip to print. I cannot take my inaction back, but I can hope that some good will come from this. More than ever, we as a University need to fight against stereotypes and for the equal rights of all who consider our campus and community home. If nothing else, the administration needs to use this instance to acknowledge that discrimination against the LGBT community is a very real problem, and one that should not be tolerated. Adding sexuality to the non-discrimination clause and recognizing student groups who fight for these equal rights is overdue, and excuses for not doing so have been used for too long. This is not a problem that can be solved overnight, but the University can join The Observer in taking the first steps towards remedying it.

I have worked for The Observer for my entire undergraduate career and nothing embarrasses me more than to be the cause of such a negative spotlight for a product that I take great pride in helping produce. A daily paper requires the dedication of its staff and the competency of its editors. Everyone who works there understands the pressures, and has sacrificed schoolwork, sleep and sanity to ensure a paper is delivered every day.

Those with final say on what is printed need to be held accountable for their actions. As Assistant Managing Editor, I have failed in my duties to protect the quality and uphold the standards of The Observer, and because of this I am resigning the position, effective immediately. I understand the severity of my actions, and need to take responsibility for them. I would like to thank Shirley Grauel, our office manager, for preventing the paper from imploding and wish her the best of luck in her retirement, and the entire Editorial Board for allowing me the experience thus far. It has been an honor working with you and you have all taught me more in my four years than I ever could have learned in a classroom. I wish everyone on staff the best of luck in regaining the readers’ trust that I have violated.

Kara King
Jan. 17

Also- The Observer fired the Cartoonists (http://www.ndsmcobserver.com/news/observer-discontinues-mobile-party-comic-1.1026072):

The Observer Editorial Board has discontinued the publication of the cartoon “The Mobile Party” following the submission and subsequent printing of the offensive Jan. 13 comic strip.

While accepting the apology of the primary authors, Notre Dame seniors Colin Hofman, Jay Wade and Lauren Rosemeyer, The Observer Editorial Board does not feel the comic strip aligns with community standards in terms of content and taste.

Per Observer Viewpoint policies, commentaries, including cartoons, submitted to The Observer for publication become property of The Observer unless otherwise discussed with the Editor-in-Chief. The Observer has been made aware of an outside blog authored by the writers of “The Mobile Party” that republished copies of their cartoons as well as cartoons deemed inappropriate for print and correspondence between Observer staff and the writers. This blog is in clear violation of Observer policy.

The Observer staff has been told the blog has since been removed from the Internet.

Writers of comic strips are typically paid for their submissions to The Observer. “The Mobile Party” authors will not be paid for the offensive submission.

Also check out the letter today from the Core Council. The Core Council is not enough.. and cannot be enough because it is run through student affairs and under intense scrutiny from ND administration. There will need to be systemic change before the Core Council is truly effective.

It's a start, however.. in many ways it's the public gateway that allows GLBTQ students to find all the unofficial, unapproved resources/groups on campus.

I am comforted by the reaction from the community- this whole event has left me profoundly shaken.. the reaction from the community is helping my heart to heal. Notre Dame has so far to go--- but there are at least some students and some faculty members willing to work for change. For that, I am grateful.

First of all, I would like to thank Waymon and whoever else is responsible for bring this to the attention of folks who visit Bilerico. People have to learn that all too often when words of hatred are allowed to go unchallenged, it leads to violence. I attended most of the trial of Allen Ray Andrade, the convicted murderer of Angie Zapata. He thought that smashing her head with a fire extinguisher was perfectly okay. Words do hurt, and at some point they must be challenged.

Second, if you have access to Reverend Jenkins, I would be curious to know how many transgender students Notre Dame has on campus? If any.