November 7, 1988
Wesley House hate note recipient speaks out
The Wesley House resident who received the five hate notes went to the Sophian to express her frustrations with the administration’s handling of the situation. She said that when she talked to Dean Ann Burger, the dean had told her that there was no policy to deal with such an incident, “as if it were something new, as if this had never happened at Smith College before.” Dean Burger referred the student to President Dunn on the grounds that only the president could suspend or expel the perpetrators. The student felt a bit better about her meeting with President Dunn, noting, “At least they felt a College commitment, if not a personal commitment, to try and do something about this problem.” However, the student said that she thought the administration was focusing more on touting their new anonymous notes policy than on her particular situation. She was also frustrated with her housemates, many of whom had trouble believing that the notes could have come from someone in their house. The student received a sixth note with a racial slur mocking the handwriting analysis that had taken place at a house meeting. At the time that the Sophian article came out, the student continued to live in Wesley House, declaring, “I pay tuition and I am entitled—it is my right to stay in this house.”
The full Sophian article on the hate note recipient can be found here (1, 3).
[Last updated on October 31, 2018]