Students angry over Web post

Some Penn students are angered by a message posted on a Penn newsgroup calling for the death of Palestinians, Arabs and Muslims. The message, entitled "Time for Palestinians to Die" was posted on the newsgroup upenn.talk by School of Arts and Sciences graduate student Stephanie Winters on Friday, March 29. In the post, Winters labels Palestinians as "animals" who are "cognitively and genetically inferior to the rest of the human race." Winters made her remarks in reference to the Middle East conflict and recent suicide bombings. "If every Muslim has to die, so be it," the post read. "If all Muslims die, then we can take over their lands." Student leaders of minority groups were taken aback by the intensity of the post and say they have no doubt that the post is an example of "hate speech." "I was quite disgusted. it was so blatantly racist," United Minorities Council Political Chairman Shaun Gonzales said. "The comments were inflammatory and racist," Penn Arab Student Society Undergraduate President Yasmine El-Shamayleh added. Winters' is a Linguistics teaching assistant, and some students say they are concerned about the effect she could have on her colleagues and undergraduates. "You don't expect to see such incidents of hate speech" at Penn, UMC Chairman Papa Wassa Nduom said. "I don't know if I would feel comfortable as a minority being in her classroom," said El-Shamayleh, a College junior. Winters did not return an e-mail requesting comment. Members of PASS, a constituent member of the UMC, said they are anxious to publicize and tackle statements they view as extremely offensive. They have appealed to the administration, asking it to take action against what they view as Winters' abuse of authority. "With power comes responsibility," El-Shamayleh said. "When you're in a position of being a TA, you're put in a situation where you need to be held accountable," Gonzales added. PASS members have also distributed a letter among groups all over campus asking for a condemnation of hate speech. There are more than 20 endorsements so far from diverse groups, including the UMC and Penn Hillel. "We want different groups at Penn and different individuals to voice their opinion, and this is happening," PASS board member Amel Ahmed said. In the letter, PASS asks the Penn community to imagine that they were the subject of Winters' post and warn of hate speeches that could be directed against their own ethnic group. "This time around it was Palestinians, Arabs, and Muslims," El-Shamayleh said. "Another time and place it could easily have been someone else." Winters has not broken any laws, though, and as she has made no threats against a specific person, she is still acting within her constitutional right to free speech. "I definitely have respect for the principle of free speech," Gonzales said. "Certainly anybody can say whatever they want to." But some students say that Winters, as a teaching assistant, crossed the line. "There are certain requirements, certain factors that have to be considered. in the context of the classroom," Nduom, a College sophomore, said. One notable faculty member disagreed with the students' course of action. "I don't think students need the administration to adjudicate their verbal disagreements," History Professor Alan Kors said. "You don't go running to mommy and daddy." Kors has experience on the topic of free speech, dating back to the 1993 "water buffalo" incident at Penn. That January, while a number of black students performed ritual songs for their sorority, 1996 College graduate Eden Jacobowitz yelled out of his high rise window, "Shut up, you water buffalo." The students claimed this was a racist remark, and the University attempted to bring charges against the student for violating Penn's speech code. However, Kors defended Jacobowitz and eventually won the case. Kors said he thought last month's racially-charged post was "particularly thoughtless," but that "moral outrage and moral condemnation" were better responses. "To say what you think of her is far more effective than making a free speech martyr of her," Kors said. "You're allowed to say hateful things. And the appropriate response is more free speech." Joshua Brown, the President of the Penn branch of the American Civil Liberties Union, echoed Kors' recommendation. "People must be vocal in denouncing hatred. everyone should speak out against her," Brown, a College sophomore said. Brown is concerned that the administration will play too great a part in the affair, leading to another University-wide controversy. "If the University starts punishing TAs and professors. they're not fostering an educational environment," Brown said. "What I'm worried about is that they're going to put restrictions on Winters' ability to TA." Both Kors and Brown say that the constitutional right of free speech is the most important consideration in these types of cases. "As abhorrent as the speech is, she still has the right to say it," Brown said. "You have to tolerate differences of opinions outside the classroom." PASS will hold an open board meeting tonight at 6:30 p.m. in Houston Hall, room 218.