Letters to the Editor

Equal coverage To the Editor:

After reading about the QPenn keynote speakers ("MTV stars discuss coming out on the air," The Daily Pennsylvanian, 3/26/02), we were dismayed at the blatant exclusion of Sophia Pasquis from the majority of the article.

While Danny Roberts had a lot to offer the audience, he was not the sole featured speaker. Both Pasquis and Roberts were invited to come speak, and both were given equal time at the program.

Pasquis answered the same questions as Roberts did and contributed just as much to the discussion. To represent what she said that evening with the quote "I'd like to see a midget out there" is completely inappropriate and does not do justice to what she had actually spoken about.

The tone of the entire article was skewed towards Roberts, with little effort made to include Pasquis. The fact that the article's headline only mentioned Roberts name, and that he was the only one to appear on the front page, is a poor representation of the event itself.

It is even more ironic given that such biased coverage appeared when the issue of race and sexual orientation were addressed during the event. Pasquis herself stated that there were "more strikes against" her being a sexual minority because she is also a female and an African American.

Representations of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender individuals in the media already tend to exclude portrayals of people of color. By focusing nearly all attention on Roberts, a white male, the DP is perpetuating this injustice.

We hope the DP will consider the messages they are sending to its readers when they do not completely and accurately cover an event. As a widely read publication on Penn's campus, the DP should exhibit a level of social responsibility, which it failed to do in its reporting of Monday's program.

Jason Chan

College '02

Karly Grossman

College '02

Unfortunate assumption To the Editor:

I understand that this University celebrates diversity, and that many important lessons can be learned from other cultures. Still, I was seriously offended when I received a letter today from the minority Peer Mentoring Program asking me to become a peer mentor.

The language used in the letter made me feel as the purpose of this program was to specifically help minorities because the "transition period may be intensified for African-Americans, Asian-American, Latino/Hispanic-American or Native American students." It claims to "provide a network of support activities to help ease the transition of first-year students of color to the University of Pennsylvania."

I am sure that the minority Peer Mentoring Program is well intentioned and has helped many students adjust to campus life. What I find objectionable is the underlying message of the letter -- that minorities have more difficulty adjusting to college life that any other students simply because they are minorities.

The experiences I've had over my first two semesters at college indicate to me that everyone can have difficulty in adjusting to college and to insinuate that minorities have more difficulty is personally offensive to me.

By having a separate minority mentoring program, the University targets minorities and the promotion of such programs further separates minorities from the majority. The minority peer advisory program also focuses on specific minority interests which further stereotype minorities. Wouldn't it be beneficial to offer such advising programs to everyone instead?

The University should alter the existing peer advising program to give students the option of a minority mentor if they feel the need for the support that someone from a similar background could offer. In fact, they should extend these options to all minorities instead of merely racial ones.

It should not target and send out letters to all racial minorities under the false assumption that they will have additional difficulties of adjusting to college life because of the simple fact that they are a minority.

Joan Lee

College '05

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