No excuse for Notre Dame cartoon
By: Alishia Alexander
Issue date: 2/4/10 Section: Opinion/Editorial
Notre Dame University has sparked much controversy over an anti-gay editorial cartoon that ran earlier this month in the student-run newspaper, The Observer.
The cartoon depicted a personified handsaw telling a joke to a random man. The hand saw said, "What's the quickest way to turn a fruit into a vegetable?" The handsaw's answer was "a baseball bat." The original version of the cartoon had a different and even more offensive response, which was "AIDS."
Jenn Metz, the editor-in-chief of The Observer, said she was not present when the decision to run the cartoon was made. The newspaper staff apologized for publishing the cartoon, but NDU students did not accept the apology, holding a protest in conjunction with Saint Mary's College on Jan. 27.
The display of this offensive joke enraged LGBT students, faculty and administrators at NDU.
It's a bit disturbing to know, in today's society, there still exist universities or colleges that discriminate against LGBT individuals. The fact that NDU doesn't have a non-discrimination policy has me wondering if this kind of act is encouraged.
Universities like Webster University, Boston College or Georgetown have gay-straight alliances and inclusive non-discrimination policies in place. For example, in WU's student handbook, there is a paragraph explaining the non-discrimination policy.
Page 29 of WU's student handbook says, "Webster University considers employment, admission, financial aid, program and activity applications without regard to race, sex, sexual orientation, color, creed, age, ethnic or national origin, or non-disqualifying disability."
NDU has a formal statement in response to student seeking rights for gay students, which was adopted in 1997.
The statement said NDU "prizes the uniqueness of all persons as God's creatures and welcomes all people, regardless of color, gender, religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation, social or economic class and nationality."
The cartoon depicted a personified handsaw telling a joke to a random man. The hand saw said, "What's the quickest way to turn a fruit into a vegetable?" The handsaw's answer was "a baseball bat." The original version of the cartoon had a different and even more offensive response, which was "AIDS."
Jenn Metz, the editor-in-chief of The Observer, said she was not present when the decision to run the cartoon was made. The newspaper staff apologized for publishing the cartoon, but NDU students did not accept the apology, holding a protest in conjunction with Saint Mary's College on Jan. 27.
The display of this offensive joke enraged LGBT students, faculty and administrators at NDU.
It's a bit disturbing to know, in today's society, there still exist universities or colleges that discriminate against LGBT individuals. The fact that NDU doesn't have a non-discrimination policy has me wondering if this kind of act is encouraged.
Universities like Webster University, Boston College or Georgetown have gay-straight alliances and inclusive non-discrimination policies in place. For example, in WU's student handbook, there is a paragraph explaining the non-discrimination policy.
Page 29 of WU's student handbook says, "Webster University considers employment, admission, financial aid, program and activity applications without regard to race, sex, sexual orientation, color, creed, age, ethnic or national origin, or non-disqualifying disability."
NDU has a formal statement in response to student seeking rights for gay students, which was adopted in 1997.
The statement said NDU "prizes the uniqueness of all persons as God's creatures and welcomes all people, regardless of color, gender, religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation, social or economic class and nationality."
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