Tuesday, September 12th on the USM Gorham campus a hate-crime was reported to the USM Police Department by a young man who reported being verbally harassed and later chased by a group of male students. He was sitting in the Brooks Dining Center with some friends, when a second group of students sat nearby and directed homophobic comments toward him. One of the overheard statements was to the effect, “I have a gun in my car.” When the student being harassed got up to leave, the perpetrators chased him outside.
“This is a type of action that needs to be condemned,” said Andrew Bossie, USM student body president. “If one person or one group of students isn’t safe on campus, then we all aren’t safe. I think that this is outlandish.”
Judie O’Malley of USM’s Office of Public Affairs, voiced similar concerns.
“I’ve been at USM for 20 years,” said O’Malley. “And in all my time here, USM has worked towards being a safe place where all students and faculty feel comfortable together. It’s really unfortunate when individuals behave contrary to these goals.”
The event that USM Police continue to investigate as a hate crime comes as a surprise. USM was just labeled as one of the top 100 Lesbian, Gay, Bi-sexual, Transgendered-friendly colleges in the United States in the nationally published Advocate College Guide, by Shane L. Windmeyer, which was published on August 15.
The book’s publisher “Alyson Bookstore” describes the colleges rated as”LGBT-friendly campuses in the United States with the best programs, services and student coalitions for LGBT students.”
“This event is not what USM is about,” said O’Malley. “The University cares for the LGBT community. We believe it is very important to provide a welcoming working and learning environment. I’m hoping this incident is an anomaly.”
Bossie noted USM’s significant role in the elections last year on the Maine Discrimination Act. “This campus was a big part of the “No on 1″ campaign. This event goes to show there is still a lot of work to be done in education,” said Bossie. “USM needs to step up and say this behavior is not acceptable and we will not tolerate it.”
University and Police officials are by no means tolerating this event either. Not only did these young men break the USM code of behavior, but also Maine state law. According to the USM code: “USM rejects acts of discrimination or harassment based on race, ethnicity, gender, age, disability, sexual orientation, religion, veteran status, and political beliefs… All reported incidents of alleged violations of this policy will be investigated according to University procedure.”
USM Police Chief Lisa Beecher confirmed that the USM police are “actively investigating” this incident in the category of hate crimes. “We have forwarded this information to the Attorney General’s Office, where there is a hate crime unit.”
When asked what message he would give to the students who perpetrated this event, Bossie said, “These are real people with real feelings, and real lives. Denouncing them because of a small part of who they are, (or who you think they are), is totally inappropriate.”
Bossie hopes incidents such as this can be avoided in the future. He believes students must “band together to combat this type of behavior.”
If anybody has any information pertaining to this incident, the USM Police Department asks that you contact them immediately. They can be reached by telephone at: 780-5211.