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March 28, 2006
Anti-Republican hate incidents on rise
The rhetOracle is a mock issue of Hamline's undergraduate newspaper, the Oracle. We are trying to be as derisive as possible. Please enjoy the farcical nature of this issue or at least, ignore us.
In recent years, Hamline has seen an increase in its Republican population, rising from two in 1998 to seven currently enrolled. Not everyone is happy with this trend, as shown by a dramatic increase in hate incidents targeting conservative students in the past month. Although it is unclear who is responsible for these incidents, some students see it as a response to earlier vandalism targeting the GLBT community.
Sophomore Republican Leo Bush was one of the students who had slurs written on his dorm door. Bush scoffs at the idea that the slurs have any connection to the earlier, anti-GLBT incidents. “Just because a few people wrote slurs and tore down some stupid posters doesn’t mean they deserve to have others do the same thing to them,” he said. When asked if he knew anything about the GLBT hate incidents, Bush refused to comment.
There have been seven incidents in the past two months directed at Republicans on campus, up from the usual two to three a semester. Although this is a small portion of the overall hate incidents on campus, it is distressing because there are so few conservatives who attend Hamline. Between February and March, there was one incident per Hamline Republican.
“I really had no idea how oppressed the Republicans are until I saw all the hate expressed against them in Drew Hall,” said Patty Klein, director of residential life. Hamline’s issues follow a national trend of conservatives who find themselves marginalized and discriminated against. As freshman Georgina Bush said, “First my uncle George gets his contract with terro--I mean Dubai-- to control our ports rejected, and then I wake up to find someone wrote ‘lick Bush’ on my door. This is so unfair!”
Posted by dwright at March 28, 2006 12:52 PM
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