Informer

Issue date: 5/3/07 Section: News

Media Credit: www.hartfordspringfling.com Over Spring Fling weekend, three incidents of verbal and physical assault occurred against members of the gay community. These took place around Konover and the Village. Students have been sharing their reactions to these incidents through e-mail or meetings with administration.

Over Spring Fling weekend, there were three incidents of verbal and physical attacks that occurred against some members of the gay community. Students both in and out of this community have responded with disappointment and concern about this kind of behavior on campus. Some students mentioned alcohol as a possible contributing factor to these incidents, and expressed discontent with the University staff's capicity to handle student behavior during such large scale events. Starting on Saturday evening, students began writing e-mails to the administration about their concerns and urging their friends to write e-mails to the administration as well. The three incidents took place on Thursday night and on Saturday.

On Thursday night in Konover's Great Room, "Rocky Horror Picture Show" was presented. According to freshman Ryan Leiman, a cast member, as the show was coming to an end, Leiman overheard some loud arguing that was going on between a cast member and a guest. He walked over to learn that the cast member was asking the guest to pick up the remains of his glass that had fallen on the floor, and the guest was refusing to do so. When Leiman approached them, the guest started shouting at him, calling him an "[expletive] faggot" and a "queer." The guest's friends proceeded to take the aggressor out of the room, and Leiman began cleaning up the pieces of glass on the floor. Less than five minutes later, the guest came back into the Great Room with another friend and Leiman felt a smack on the back. This friend approached Leiman and began shouting at him about who was going to pay for the guest to get a new cup. When Leiman tried to express that he did not know and did not want to cause any trouble, the guest's friend threw a hard punch to his face, causing Leiman's lower lip to bleed non-stop for about 10 minutes. Yesterday morning, Leiman reported the event to Public Safety, and has yet to hear from them.

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