To the Editor:

For the past two years I have been reading the Yale Daily News and had to bear witness to direct attacks on my team, Yale men’s lacrosse. The News is one of the most esteemed college newspapers in the United States. For years, it has served as a bastion of liberalism and free speech. However, while the front page may decry stereotypes and slander, the scene section seems to have no problem using such underhanded tactics. If Carl Williott (“Bottom line: stay away from any large sticks,” 9/2) is to be believed, the men’s lacrosse team is nothing more than gonorrhea-infested thieves. His aim is not honest and truthful advice, but to create a Snowball (yes, a lacrosse player just referenced “Animal Farm”), an outside group on which all of Yale’s ails may be blamed. He says nothing of the time we went, as a team, to a children’s hospital in the hopes of brightening up a disease-stricken child’s day. Nor does he mention the gusto with which we supported the Relay for Life event late last year. He doesn’t mention that last year’s Athletes in Action president was a lacrosse player, or that members of our team are in a cappella groups and other activities that I’m sure scene would avoid discrediting. What saddens me most about Williott’s words is that there might be a freshman out there who takes these to heart and avoids the men’s lacrosse team. The truth is, my teammates are some of the greatest people I know, and I consider myself honored and lucky to be a part of the team. So please, next time you want to bestow advice on an incoming class, try to avoid perpetuating reputations and stereotypes that hold no truth. I would expect nothing less out of such a first-class newspaper.

Scott Wexler ’07

Sept. 5, 2005