To the Editor:

We have a dream, that one day, on the green slopes of New Haven, the sons of Christians and Hindus, the daughters of Jews and Muslims, will be able to sit down at the table of brotherhood.

It’s not really a dream, actually — it’s our daily reality, and one of the most idyllic parts of life here at Yale. Yet it is truly sad when the ugliness of a single idiotic act shatters the beauty of such carefully crafted harmony. Such sadness consumed the two of us on Monday, when we were shocked to hear that multiple posters — advertising for the various events of Islamic Awareness Week — were torn down from the bulletin board in our entryway.

These posters were definitively apolitical and non-confrontational, exhibiting events such as a PBS movie screening, an interfaith dialogue, and a forum on civil rights. Striving to promote both tolerance and understanding and to achieve a peaceful dialogue uniting the campus, the Muslim Students Association’s effort was met with vandalism and ugly destruction.

Worst of all was the sickening slur defiling one poster — “f—ing c—suckers.” This was no attempt at discourse or even criticism, nor was it the graffiti of an angry and downtrodden youth. Instead, it was the thoughtless regurgitation of baseless hate, spurting from the ignorant pen of an anonymous, cowardly Yalie.

We refuse to believe that this heinous act is representative of the community here at Yale, one we know is dominated by warmth and acceptance. This disgusting exception highlights the rule, reminding us never to be complacent nor take our harmonious lives for granted. Of our community, we are proud. Of this faceless coward, we are disgusted and ashamed.

Aatif Iqbal ’05 and Josh Bendor ’05

February 19, 2002