Letter to the Editor — Evan, reconsider your first assumptions
Evan,
I read your article about the duct tape incident that occurred yesterday morning, and I had a concern with the way you concluded your article.
It seemed you must have forgotten that tape over people’s mouths representing forced silence is a pretty universal symbol, not an invention of We The Students as your conclusion suggests.
Also, you failed to step back from your first assumptions and consider that perhaps the motives you saw were not the only option.
The motive of bringing forward the silencing of women is certainly a possibility, but not the only possibility. It is completely possible that this was an act of terror rather than an act of rebellion — an attempt to scare those of us speaking out against rape culture into a forced silence.
These are both plausible explanations for the incident, and the one I present seems even more likely considering the amount of speaking up that has occurred since the Phi Delta Theta incident.
This could be a direct retaliation against the flyers from earlier this week. Either way, we are not likely to find out what this action actually means until someone claims them, which I doubt anyone will do considering the possible consequences.
Rexy Que
They/Them/Theirs
Tex • Sep 20, 2017 at 4:58 pm
Love it. “I’m going to point the finger at Evan for jumping to conclusions, but hey, let’s not point fingers at who vandalized the artwork. I mean, it could have been anybody. It could have been the terrorists!”
How about you all not vandalize artwork that costs more than your education.
Concerned Shocker • Sep 20, 2017 at 12:28 am
Rexy,
Thanks for the admission of guilt!
The damage done by We the Students to not just the electorate of the student body, but also now property, needs to be addressed. The police are looking for the culprits in that vandalism, and yourself and the rest of We the Students all deserve to be prosecuted. If you have a single shred of integrity, you’ll turn in those that damaged these works of art.
Evan was completely correct in his article, and there is no justifying what your ilk have done.
Yxer Euq, Hi/Hello/HowAreYou • Sep 19, 2017 at 12:44 pm
While it certainly *is* “possible” that this was an act of terror — in the sense that it *is* “possible” that Time Travel could exist — it is far from the likeliest explanation of what happened, and I think it’s laughable that you went out of your way to write an opinion article just to condemn a writer for leaving out the possibility of something that’s unlikely but technically possible. While we’re at it, why don’t we condemn him for not considering the fact that it perhaps wasn’t a human being who did it, but an alien.
If we’re being honest with ourselves here, we’d all admit that terrorists are far from the type of people who are quiet in their activism. Call me out for jumping to conclusions here, but I think the act almost certainly came from someone of the prominent feminist, lgbtq++++ activist crowd we have here on campus.
Like you correctly stated, there’s likely zero chance the offender will ever step forward. But in a scenario where they actually did come forward, I’d bet my last dollar I could guess who it was within no more than 10 tries.
Drew • Sep 18, 2017 at 8:50 pm
Rexy you missed the whole point of Evan’s article. Evan wanted to promote the use of free speech and explain how the University, along with a majority of students are actively trying to suppress that right.
Mercedes • Sep 19, 2017 at 12:09 pm
I really don’t think that was the point of Evan’s article. The University nor a majority of students are actively trying to suppress the right to free speech. You might have the right to free speech; that doesn’t mean you are free from consequences. There’s a reason why people are allowed to sue for libel and slander. Also, why is it free speech that is being suppressed when it’s the cis/white/hetero group speaking but is an attack when it’s the minority? Come on now. I’m sorry but I just have to laugh that people are getting upset about “my right to free speech” when there’s far more important issues going on and you’re only defending your right to be an asshole.
Furthermore, if Evan wants to claim to be a journalist then he needs to produce better pieces.
Drew • Sep 20, 2017 at 10:56 am
If you read Evan’s letter to the editor he only talks about the vandalism in one sentence, while he lists two specific instances that were against free speech. There are bigger issues to be concerned with? Not sure how the first amendment not being protected by the University, which is their job, is not the biggest issue here.
Also libel/slander lawsuits are tremendously difficult to win in court and there no such case here.
I don’t even know why you are bringing up race in the first place. There is no reason to bring identity politics into this discussion other than to further divide people ethnically.
Exhausted Sunflower Reader • Sep 18, 2017 at 1:39 pm
Rexy for opinion editor!
Good job!
Tex • Sep 20, 2017 at 5:54 pm
How about no. And how about you stop trying to play the victim, Rexy. It’s “completely possible that this was an act of terror…” It’s completely possible that Lady Gaga or President Obama came to Wichita and put the tape everywhere too, but coming back to the real world where there’s logic and reason: are you serious? You are so wrapped up in “I’m a victim! I’m being repressed! I’m being silenced!” that you have literally created an argument out of thin air that some fictitious group of “terrorists” is going around terribly terrorizing people on campus.
After your Chick-fil-a letter and now this rubbish, I’m genuinely concerned with your mental health. WSU Counseling and Testing Center is located in Grace Wilkie Hall and has some amazing resources—you should go check them out if you haven’t yet.