EDITORIAL: In their words?

[From prepared remarks from University President Judith Rodin read at a candlelight vigil Tuesday night in honor of Matthew Shepard, a gay University of Wyoming who died Monday morning from a savage beating] Our society suffered a great loss yesterday with Matthew's tragic death. The atrocity of it claws at our very social fabric and screams with hatred. Where was reason? Where was civility? Where was humanity? They were just whispers on the cold Wyoming wind. As a University community, we come together to embrace the highest ideals of free expression -- the freedom to learn, and the freedom to be who we are. We come to a University to learn -- to expand our minds, to revel in our differences, and to learn from them. Let us, as members of a community dedicated to the highest ideals, light the way in Matthew's memory. Matthew's candle was snuffed out, but yours -- ours -- will continue to burn bright. Let us embrace each other's differences. And let us embrace one another. · [From spoken remarks by Robert Schoenberg, the director of Penn's Lesbian Gay Bisexual Center] Students, faculty, and at Penn -- and throughout the country --Eare deeply saddened by the events of the last several days... But, what has happened should serve as a clarion call to wake all of us from complacency and a false sense of security. While many of us feel safe and supported as out gay and lesbian people on the Penn campus, we must be aware that hatred such as that which happened at the University of Wyoming can -- and does -- strike anywhere and at any time. Following this horrible incident, there have been related acts of homophobia -- including a scarecrow doll with Matthew's name on it thrown onto a float in the homecoming parade at Colorado State University, in the town where Matthew died. In response to these terrible events, we are being bombarded in the media by people -- from conservative Christian organizations and other components of the ubiquitous right -- denying that what happened in Wyoming should be considered a hate crime. Their ignorance hardly seems worth arguing with; let me say only reports indicate that, after the two men left Matthew Shepard, they proceeded to attack two Hispanic men. Is that a coincidence? I don't think so. Racism, sexism, homophobia, and other forms of oppression are inextricably linked. Hatred is all around us. It takes many forms -- physical violence, yes, but also verbal assaults of all kinds?. We in the Penn family extend our deepest sympathy to the family and friends of Matthew Shepard. His loss is devastating, but will not be forgotten and hopefully will not have been in vain. May it serve to strengthen our resolve to combat homophobia in all its forms by all means available to us. At a University, we naturally think first and foremost -- as we should -- of education as the best strategy to counteract ignorance. Let us strive in that way to illuminate the vast darkness. And, in the process, we must cling very close, take care of ourselves, and watch our for and take care of each other.