To the Editor:

Earlier this week I was walking to class and my attention was drawn to a campus kiosk. Hundreds of sheets of paper were frantically stapled to the board with the intention of shocking those who walked by. It worked: I was shocked. Not at the ultimate point they were trying to make of, “Wow, look how carelessly people use the word ‘fag’ and ‘homosexual’ in their Facebook profiles.” I was shocked at the cowardly way intelligent Yalies chose to get their point across. I saw my own Facebook profile on a board and was appalled at the lack of discretion these individuals used.

Yes, it is true that our Facebook profiles are open to the Yale community. Though, while the kiosks are on Yale property, they are able to be seen by the entire public, not just Yale students. Such reproduction and distribution of profiles was against the law, and more importantly in this situation, better judgment should have been used. Calling out certain individuals without giving them any means to respond is contrary to principles of free speech. This gutless act of protest is more detrimental to the values of society than the Facebook groups in question.

The content in my Facebook profile is not meant to hurt anyone. But if someone does have a problem with my profile’s content, I would be happy to discuss these issues with anyone. To publicly call out myself and others without allowing us to respond is wrong. In the future, maybe a better means of getting the perpetrator’s point across would be in order — maybe a more mature way.

Morgan Locke ’08

Feb. 2, 2006