Sarah Saville watches as students read vows on the Drillfield during a protest in April.
A recent assault at the University of Virginia has brought a response from many in the Virginia Tech community.
A UVa student, along with a guest, were assaulted at approximately 3 a.m. Saturday, April 4, by a group of five males. The assailants before and during the incident uttered several homophobic slurs and broke the UVa student's phone when he attempted to call 911. Police were notified when the student's guest was able to flee the scene.
The university said in a statement from Alan Grove, associate vice president and dean of students, that the attack was motivated by the perceived sexual orientation of the two victims.
Grove spoke firmly on the incident.
"Any crime perpetrated on a university student is one too many," Grove said in the statement. "There is no place for crimes of hate at the university or in the surrounding Charlottesville community."
Edward Warwick, program coordinator for UVa's Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Alliance Resource Center, said that the event unified the student body. The university held events Thursday in response to the incident.
"With the time of year for students, even though they're very busy, they recognized this is something we don't tolerate," Warwick said.
Warwick added that safety was important in a university setting.
"Everybody should feel like they're safe," Warwick said. "You should feel comfortable to hold the hand of your partner walking down the street, regardless of your gender, your sexuality, your race or your ethnicity."
It has not been determined whether the attackers were students at UVa. An investigation from the university's police department on the incident is ongoing. Students of Tech's LGBTA prepared a card to be given to UVa's LGBT Resource Center. Emily Mauger, president of Tech's LGBTA said that the events were very disturbing.
"It's horrible," Mauger said. "It's sad to realize it's such a problem for acceptance." Mauger added that the incident could be important to foster future discussion at Tech.
"It kind of takes an event like the one at UVa for people to talk about it," Mauger said.
Both UVa and Tech Clery Act statistics show a limited number of incidents referred to as hate crimes. UVa has had three hate crime incidents from 2005 to 2007. However, all were connected to race, not sexual orientation. Tech's statistics show no hate crimes during the same period. However, Mauger said the numbers could be misleading.
"There are definitely hate crimes on this campus," Mauger said. Tech Dean of Students Tom Brown noted that students could anonymously report incidents through the university's SafeWatch program. Brown said administrators kept close watch on incoming reports.
"It's important so that university administrators have a sense of what students are facing here," Brown said. "It's something we want to know about." Brown added that the university considered it important to make students feel welcome.
"We want to support students who may have a negative experience here," Brown said.
Leave a comment 18 Comments Write a letter to the editor
All letters to the editor must include a name, e-mail, daytime phone number and affiliation to Virginia Tech. Affiliation includes: year and major for students; position and department for faculty and staff; current city for alumni and parents.
Anti-gay anything is no longer tolerated in any shape or form by the gay community. We are actively fighting back and I'd just suggest anyone who even dare think of assaulting us physically, emotionally or politically think again. We're no different that you, in fact our political power is growing exponentially day by day, our wealth capacity exceeds those of non-gay groups as do our professional alliances. One would be wise to shift their thinking if they aren't willing to respect our god given human rights - because you are now on notice that we will do what ever is required to gain and protect our rights legally. The U.S. is not some nazi-religious-fanatical-homophobic-hate-state so its time you not only understand this but you respect this - and us. We are you teachers, your doctors, your lawyers, your scientists, your judges, your school bus drivers, your sons, your daughters, your ministers, your leaders, your police men, firemen, soldiers, neighbors and we are not going anywhere. So it is up to you to find your peace and live life with honor and respect. The way some of you are behaving right now is nothing short of pathetic.
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We're not against rap, we're not against rappers, but we are against those thugs...
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Get a grip you self righteous twit! Be what you want to be. I think it's great. Just don't ram it down other people's throat so to speak. You sound like some left wing radical delevering a speech which I find hilarious.. Again, be who you want to be but lose the "us against them" mentality. Nobody really cares what you do, just do it and keep your damn mouths shut!
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Our ministers? Sorry, no "true" minister can be placed in "your" category. You are falsifying all the country's unity on this subject by splitting us up into groups. Re-think some of that.
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you may be all these things, but you're still gay
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No members of the clergy are sexual deviants. Wait... uhhhhh. I mean, no 'true' members of the clergy are sexual deviants.
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Were there any witnesses to the attack?
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i know those who are lgbt are often very socially liberal, adn i know that self-defense rights are usually very conservative, but honestly, there's a reason why so many emphasize self-defense. you choose how you do it - martial arts, mace, firearm, etc - but do something to protect yourself. crime is real and some people are targeted - minority groups, lgbt, women, elderly, handicapped, etc. when crime seeks you out, fight back and win.
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How come I am never around when cool things like this happen?
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No witnesses. This could possibly be another imaginary attack at UVa, much like how Daisy Lundy did in 2003, when she was running for student body president. She was trailing in the run-off election and claimed a white student spotted her at 2 am near her car on a cold, snowy night, pushed her down, told her "no one wanted a *#*#* to be student body president" and skulked off into the night. Her fiancee came out to "find" her and they put the whole racial attack hysteria into full force... the university bought into it, hook, line and sinker. :-/
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The article says "along with a guest", so I'm assuming the guest is a witness.
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I think the guest was also assaulted. If the couple got into a fight, a good way to stay out of jail would be to blame someone else. I know it can happen but it seems better to wait for the evidence before jumping to conclusions.
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It isn't as if Charlottesville is a hot bed for reactionary activity. Far from it, it is a liberal haven. We should consider this to be a potential hoax, devised for the purposes of activism (rallying cry) until more conclusive evidence can be found.
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The comments to this story highlight the closed minded, prejudiced nature of the VT community. Glad I no longer have to live in the area.
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and we're glad your gone, good riddance
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oh wait, my bad. i was only referring to my comments being close minded. i conveniently ignored reality when i said the VT community is prejudiced because we have so much magical 'diversity' now, everyone must be holding hands and singing together. these comments are probably all coming from alumni who aren't on campus anymore, like myself.
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To the person using the alumnus handle below me. I don't even understand the point of what you just said. It is obviously supposed to be an insult directed toward me in some manner. You need to work on your writing skills. The VT campus and surrounding community has very little diversity compared to the general population of the US. However I said nothing about diversity in my comment, I talked about prejudice, they are two different things.
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Yes, groups of guys HAVE beat up lesbians in the US. Google it. It's been in the news. Why do people respond in an incredulous manner when a hate crime is reported? You think people want to make this stuff up? Would you? "Potential hoax." BS. This is the least gay-friendly campus I've ever seen (this coming from a straight perspective.) It's college guys - this is supposed to be the time when you widen your perspective, not narrow it. Have a little empathy, at least. And dude - be nice to your fellow Hokies. Even if you don't agree with them. Don't tell them "good riddance." That's just unnecessary.
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