In response to the comments, Park posted a message entitled the "Statement on Respect for Persons," in which he stated that the discussion on the forum was in violation of one of the College's guiding principles. "As President of the Association of Amherst Students, I cannot and will not allow members of our community to publicly undermine the sense of collective respect and dignity that this college has worked so hard to cultivate," Park wrote.
Park also said that he expected the school to track down and contact the people who had made the offending remarks, although he has since stated that he does not believe this is an effective solution. "I feel that it is important that we move forward in addressing this problem and that we channel our anger and indignation into positive, proactive action instead of simply scapegoating members of our community," Park said.
President Anthony Marx and Dean of Students Ben Lieber issued an email statement yesterday to the entire campus condemning the remarks. "Such material has no place in a community such as ours-one that places a premium on civil discussion among all members of the community and respect for everyone within it," Marx and Lieber wrote in the statement.
On Monday, Park received a letter of apology from one of the original posters, whose identity Park would not reveal. "I believed what was being said was a joke and in no way was trying to marginalize any specific person or group of people by any means," the letter stated. "I believe that the Amherst community and I have learned an important lesson from these events and now know that even posts intended to be comical can have a negative effect on the student body as a whole."
The Asian Students Association (ASA) held an open meeting on Monday night so that students could discuss the posts and respond in a pro-active way, according to Marika Hashimoto '06, who helped to organize and facilitate the event at the request of Park and Elan Ghazal '05, vice-president of the AAS.
Some attendants at the forum were concerned about the way The Student reported on the issue last week, alleging that the manner in which the article was written belittled the incident and encouraged the racist expressions that appeared on The Jolt. "I guess some people really had strong objections as to how the incident was documented in the newspaper. It was unexpected, but I'm glad students brought the issue up on their own," said Marika Hashimoto.
Marx also condemned the remarks on the Jolt. "I find it and the College's policy finds it reprehensible that people would put forward discriminatory statements or language in any format," Marx said.
Marx said that the College would have the potential to identify the people who posted the offending comments if it had the cooperation of the Daily Jolt. Lieber said that the College had done contacted a Jolt poster once before, in a case where a student had made a physical threat to another student in an anonymous post. However, Lieber questioned the jurisdiction of the College in this current case and, in the joint statement, Lieber and Marx said that they would not take disciplinary action.
At the end of the forum, May Nguyen '04 proposed a banner project entitled "We Object-We Embrace"
With the help of other students, Nguyen plans to hang white sheets around Valentine Quad with statements affirming that this is a community of students and faculty who embrace diversity of race, according to Nguyen.
Hashimoto and a few other represenatives of ASA plan to work with the AAS to promote acceptance and communication among campus groups. "In the meantime I hope people will help keep the momentum going from tonight's forum and initiate a more open and respectful dialogue through The Student and the Jolt," Hashimoto said.