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“Freedom is the right to share, share fully and equally, in American society — to vote, to hold a job, to enter a public place, to go to school. It is the right to be treated in every part of our national life as a person equal in dignity and promise to all others.
“But freedom is not enough. You do not wipe away the scars of centuries by saying: Now you are free to go where you want, and do as you desire, and choose the leaders you please.
“You do not take a person who, for years, has been hobbled by chains and liberate him, bring him up to the starting line of a race and then say, “you are free to compete with all the others,” and still justly believe that you have been completely fair.
“Thus it is not enough just to open the gates of opportunity. All our citizens must have the ability to walk through those gates.
“This is the next and the more profound stage of the battle for civil rights. We seek not just freedom but opportunity. We seek not just legal equity but human ability, not just equality as a right and a theory but equality as a fact and equality as a result.”
–Lyndon Johnson, Howard University Commencement, June 4, 1965.
Tomorrow (Thursday) night at 8 pm SAFER Campus is hosting the New York premiere of University Silence, a documentary on campus sexual assault which SAFER describes as follows:
University Silence is a short documentary film created by Sarah Richardson. It’s a candid narrative by a survivor of a campus assault, describing her struggles with her college administration, and shows how a lack of effective policy and honesty can further compound trauma. If you have any questions about why policy reform is so crucial, this is necessary viewing.
The screening will be held at the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Community Center at 208 West 13th Street, with a Q & A to follow. You can find out more info on the screening and RSVP at its Facebook Event page.
Anita Hemmings, the first African-American graduate of Vassar.
Anita Hemmings became the first black woman to graduate from Vassar College in 1897 — forty-three years before Vassar opened its doors to black students.
The whole story is here, and it’s a great one. (I found it via this excellent post by TransGriot discussing the use of the term “passing” to describe transpeople.)
“No one likes to be a rat,” University of Minnesota vice provost for student affairs Jerry Rinehart said today. But he’s hoping at least a few students will do it anyway.
The U of M plans to put up a website featuring recognizeable photographs and video of participants in last weekend’s off-campus riot, and will encourage students to anonymously identify those pictured. The information gathered in this way will be turned over to the police. (see update below)
The Minneapolis Star Tribune reported that the Daily, the U of M student newspaper, does not intend to grant the university access to the more than one thousand photos its staff photographers took at the riot.
April 29 update: University officials are giving varying statements about whether website IDs would be turned over to the cops. The Minnesota Daily says Rinehart told them that such students “would most likely face University code of conduct punishment, not criminal charges,” but says that the campus police intend to “forward any information they receive from the website that involves criminal activity to [the Minneapolis Police Department].”
Student parties turned into riots at two American colleges last night.
At the University of Minnesota, an off-campus student party associated with the campus’s Spring Jam got rowdy when a fire was built in the middle of a street. Bottles and rocks were reportedly thrown at police, who retaliated with tear gas, pepper spray, and “foam rounds.”
Here’s commenter Sun from the Minnesota Daily website with a first-hand perspective:
“I wouldn’t call this a riot as much as a large get-together that was slightly out of hand. People were not hurting each other or raiding houses. There was a strong communal understanding of respect, however, there was some bottle smashing and fire starting. If you were there you know what I’m trying to get at … the majority of the activity was allotted to mere standing and conversing with occasional sing-a-longs.”
Standing and conversing with occasional sing-a-longs, bottle smashing, and fire starting. Got it.
Only four people were arrested in the UM incident, but KentNewsNet is reporting that police made 125 arrests in the course of an off-campus confrontation at Kent State. There, participants suggest that the party turned into a riot because of police action.
studentactivism.net 
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