Students Criticize Homophobia Response

Members of the Bisexual, Gay, Lesbian, Transgender and Supporters' Alliance (BGLTSA) criticized Dean of the College Harry R. Lewis '68 yesterday for taking recent incidents of anti-gay vandalism too lightly.

K. Kyriell Muhammad, a BGLT tutor in Mather House, announced Monday that he plans to resign in the wake of homophobic vandalism directed against him. Homophobic graffiti was written on a BGLTSA poster on his door and, in earlier incidents, strangers pounded on his door late at night.

"This community is a very tolerant and inclusive one, and the acts directed against Mr. Muhammad are notable for being exceptional," Lewis wrote in an e-mail message to The Crimson Monday. "I do not believe these acts represent a systemic problem at Harvard."

At a meeting last night, BGLTSA members took issue with his statement, saying homophobia is "pervasive" at Harvard.

"That this represents an aberration, as Dean Lewis seemed to say, is false," said Anna M. Baldwin '00, a Mather resident and BGLTSA Executive Board member.

She said she perceived homophobia in last year's talk of increasing support for the Reserve Officers' Training Corps on campus and in the "conservative coming out" dinner earlier this month. The vandalism against Muhammad was just particularly conspicuous, Baldwin said.

"People usually aren't this forthright," she said.

Lewis declined to comment further on the issue last night.

Muhammad wrote in an e-mail yesterday that he has been flooded with messages of support from students, tutors and faculty members since The Crimson published the announcement of his planned resignation on Tuesday.

"The BGLTSA as an organization has been behind me 100 percent from the very beginning of these events. I know many of the students personally and their support has been wonderful," Muhammad wrote. "I think we all recognize the seriousness of the issues at stake here and will hopefully take positive, pro-active steps to prevent this type of behavior in the future."

BGLTSA co-chair Michael A. Hill '02 said his group wants the administration to send a letter directly to every student condemning the incidents as anti-gay.

Group members also said Lewis unfairly questioned Muhammad's commitment to his job.

"He has been a good tutor and we will miss him," Lewis wrote Monday. "I certainly understand that he leaves with regret, and has to balance his own personal comfort and academic mission with his service to the Harvard community."

Matthew S. Trent '00, a BGLTSA executive, said, "Dean Lewis made the erroneous connection between commitment to community and commitment to personal safety."

"[There is] no question on his commitment to the community," he said.

Several BGLTSA executives said Muhammad was their first queer contact at Harvard and frequently participated in the alliance's community meetings.

"The fact is we've lost one of the most active BGLT tutors," said Jeffrey P. Morgan '02.

Muhammad founded a queer film series at Mather and started a first-year sexuality discussion group when he was a first-year proctor.

Baldwin, who said she first met Muhammad at the first-year discussion series, said the tutor is "one of the most visible queer authority figures" on campus.