This week marked the rollout of SGA’s attempted rebranding of the Gianforte boycott. Already, we’ve seen massive alumni petitions pushing back against this, doubling down by promising to never donate to Stevens. Having seen the state of Gateway North, it’s hard not to see this “reclamation” as nothing more than a half-hearted attempt to rainbow-wash a building shrouded in controversy. Even if Gateway North is reclaimed for a week or even a month, the question will always remain of what permanent good will come from these streamers and balloons for the queer community. Instead of raising awareness, it is a capitulation to an administration that refuses to meet our demands– a capitulation that the Stevens community will not accept. We acknowledge that public awareness of the boycott has been waning as each year the student body becomes more distant from the original call to action. We understand why some may see a desire to change, and even would be open to discussion of how to modify tactics to strengthen our efforts. While we don’t believe that SGA’s intentions were malicious, and in the case of the aforementioned petition it perhaps mischaracterizes them as actors of the administration, it is undoubtable that the SGA has mishandled this situation. Alongside them, The Stute has failed to properly represent the voices of our community. We demand better than this.
The SGA has pushed the rebranding of the boycott without the backing of the queer community. Their attempt represents top-down leadership, pushing without getting a consensus among the orgs enacting the boycott. Of the two major queer student orgs, Torch Alliance was consulted but they were not firmly behind moving forwards with any efforts, especially not without the support of other orgs. oSTEM, the other queer student organization on campus, was staunchly against such a change and was actively ignored in pushing forward this initiative. Furthermore, the other 50 organizations that originally signed onto the original boycott were not consulted together, and the town halls on the topic were publicized minimally. For a measure meant to take initiative, the initiative should have been made to unify these other orgs before taking any action. The SGA’s efforts have been rushed and expedited for the purposes of having a headline for pride week, at the expense of getting the other players involved behind whatever initiative they may have pushed. Regardless of their intentions, the SGA has ignored and disenfranchised the groups that are responsible for keeping this boycott ongoing.
The Stute, similarly, has repeatedly failed to reach out to the student orgs on multiple occasions this year. The article “What’s up with Gateway North”, which came out in November, offhandedly mentions talk of ending the boycott, which was especially surprising to the organizations on campus which had not had any such discussion. In retrospect, it’s obvious that The Stute was likely in talks with the SGA, failing to consult with anyone else in the process. Likewise, the front page piece for last week’s paper features the reframing of the boycott, again failing to consult with any groups involved. Torch Alliance is even named as having pushed the original boycott, but they were not consulted before the article came out, a choice which erroneously portrayed them as behind the reclamation. We acknowledge the many deadlines and difficulties involved in producing a paper such as The Stute, but that is not an excuse for failing their journalistic responsibility. It is unacceptable for them to not reach out for relevant comments for these sorts of articles.
Although much of the coverage of Gianforte in recent years has honed in on his homophobia and transphobia, we believe it necessary to remind all students of everything he has done against the values of the Stevens Community as a whole. He has assaulted a reporter, going against the ideals of free press and speech. As a tech school, we naturally value logic and scientific reason, meanwhile Gianforte is a young earth creationist who has funded museums that teach the Earth to be six thousand years old and evolution to be false. During the initial call to remove his name from the building, it was Gianforte himself who revoked half of his donation, leaving the school to pay for the difference and giving a metaphorical middle finger to our community. Most recently in his tenure as governor, he has passed laws limiting abortion, restricting healthcare for trans youth, and appointing known white supremacist conspiracy theorists to government positions. The boycott was never solely about homophobia, and the examples cited are by no means an exhaustive list of every value of Stevens that he stands against or every group he has harmed and continues to harm. Even if Gateway North were “reclaimed” by queer students, that does nothing to reclaim all of his name, and that’s without even questioning whether a reclamation is something that can be forced in the first place. It’s for this reason that we write to the SGA and The Stute. We will not be ending this boycott until the name is changed, and we must continue to raise awareness and fight such that this will not be forgotten. It may seem small and insignificant compared to all of the other things in the world, but if the administration can not make the obvious choice to strip his name from the building, then how can we expect them to stand by their students in much harder moral choices? So long as the building remains in his name, it is a reminder of a culture unsafe for women, POC, queer folks, and so many other people that make up the Stevens community. We will not end the boycott. We will not host events in the building until our demands are met, and we must continue to put pressure on the school. SGA does not speak for us and we demand to be heard.
Signed,
Torch Alliance E-Board
Out in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics E-Board
Stevens Trivia Club
Stevens A Cappella
Commuter Student Union
Omega Phi Beta Sorority, Incorporated
Society of Asian Scientists & Engineers
Redshift E-Board
Sigma Psi Zeta Sorority, Incorporated
Japanese Student Association
Nu Alpha Phi Fraternity
Chinese Student Association
Stevens Underground Music Awareness Committee Eboard
Audio Engineering Club
Order of Omega
Ethnic Student Council
Alpha Phi
StevensTHON
STEVENS FAME
Korean Students Association
College Democrats of Stevens
The Link
Alpha Phi Omega E-board
Chi Phi
WCPR Castle Point Radio
