On Oct. 30, an email was sent to the campus population from the Office of Residence Life, alerting the community to bulletin board vandalism that had occurred in the residence halls. According to the email, the destruction of these boards was targeted to ones with information about LGBTQ+ History and the origins of National Coming Out Day for the month of October.
Residence Life shared that “while not everyone will agree with one another’s perspectives, acts of destruction that are symbolically aimed at a portion of the community are absolutely unacceptable. No one should feel unsafe or be targeted based on an important aspect of one’s identity. As a community, we are incredibly proud of the diversity that is reflected at McDaniel College.”
The staff encouraged students who have any information about this to share what they know, and to fill out a Student Concern Report. They also asked that anyone who was involved in the vandalism to “consider how [their] actions have harmed other individuals as well as the entire McDaniel Community and most importantly how [they] can begin to repair that harm and give back to the community.”
One of the Resident Assistants whose boards were affected, Sera McClintock, said “It is frustrating to see my bulletin board destroyed, especially since I put work into selecting terms to educate my residents about gender and sexual minorities. I just hope that somebody is willing to come forward and tell us what happened.”
Residence Life also shared that those affected by the vandalism are welcome to speak with the Office of Diversity and Inclusion, the Office of Residence Life, or the Wellness Center counseling staff.
