A student was verbally accosted for his perceived sexual orientation by four unknown men at 12:30 Monday morning, according to a Public Safety Alert just sent to students. The incident occurred near 37th and Prospect:

On Monday, November 9, 2009 at 12:30 a.m., a student reported to DPS that while walking near the intersection of 37th and Prospect Streets, a group of four unknown males approached the student and engaged in verbal harassment, making comments regarding the student’s perceived sexual orientation. No physical contact occurred between the complainant and the suspects.

Two of the suspects are described as white men, 6 feet tall, with curly dark hair. One is described as skinny, while the other is described as fat.

Public Safety Alert after the jump

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GUSA will not stand for these motherfucking snakes on this motherfucking plane campus

GUSA FUND: The big news from this week’s meeting was that the Senate passed the long-debated GUSA Fund, which will allow them to fund clubs directly. For more information, check out Vox‘s post from earlier this morning.

HATE CRIMES: GUSA passed a revised version of Senator Josh Mogil‘s (SFS ’11—Off Campus) changes to the Student Code of Conduct regarding hate crimes on a vote of 16 to two, with one abstention.

The new version of the resolution adds Hate-Crimes as a Category C violation, but keeps bias as a “parameter” for other violations that are not “criminal acts of hate,” but are motivated by the aggravating factor of bias.

Mogil said he decided to leave in the section on “bias-related incidents” after speaking with Vice President of Student Affairs Todd Olson about the resolution.

Senator Nick Troiano (COL ’11—Village A, A-D) still had doubts about the necessity of the resolution.

“There’s no practical difference between someone who’s adjudicated based on a criminal act that would otherwise fall under Category C violations and those that would now fall under the sub-category,” Troiano said.

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The Georgetown Solidarity Committee just released an open letter to University President John DeGioia demanding better treatment of and higher salaries for Department of Public Safety officers.

The letter says that the recent hate crimes have revealed “a pervasive, historically rooted, and dangerous climate on campus” which is due in large part to “neglecting the well-being” of DPS officers.

The letter says that the DPS officers are paid roughly three dollars less than other campus security officers at other D.C. schools and the department is consequently habitually understaffed.  Solidarity is insisting on a four dollar raise over the next three years for current officers and “a fair staffing policy.”

According to the letter:

DPS Officers are the lowest-paid police in Washington, D.C. … SafeRides, escort services, and other safety systems are frequently understaffed and unable to provide sufficient services. These issues hinder the retention of employees and undervalue long-term officers with the experiential knowledge of Georgetown, which is essential to the trust needed between DPS and the community. This “revolving door” leaves the Georgetown community vulnerable to future incident …

Even in hard economic times, we must not compromise the respect, security and well-being of those charged with keeping us safe.

In a recent interview with WTOP, Metropolitan Police Department Chief Cathy Lanier speculated that the of recent hate crimes in Georgetown may have been motivated by the ongoing debate over same-sex marriage.

Lanier, who recently told WTOP that MPD is classifying the assaults as hate crimes, was asked on WTOP’s Ask the Chief Program whether it was possible that the issue of same-sex marriage could have sparked the attack.  She responded:

“Whenever there’s an issue that’s getting a lot of attention, there may be something that’s sparking these assaults. Certainly that’s something we are looking at.”

WTOP notes that there have been 31 hate crimes based on sexual orientation in D.C. during 2009.

Lanier said MPD has put an investigator on the case, and that the Gay Liaison Unit is assisting with the investigation.  She was also asked whether it’s possible that the two assaults are related, and responded that “we don’t have anything to connect the two incidents as of right now.”

Students concerned by the recent anti-gay hate crimes will have the chance to meet with University officials to discuss what can be done to improve student safety today at 8 p.m. in the ICC Auditorium.  In preparation for the meeting, a group of students held a discussion yesterday to decide what topics to bring up at the meeting.

After much debate and discussion, the students decided on a set of goals to bring up at today’s meeting, namely better communication on- and off-campus among appropriate safety organizations, a more tolerant culture, better pay and conditions for Department of Public Safety officers, changing the student conduct code to make hate crimes a Type C violation, and protecting students by offering self defense classes and a possible volunteer task force to help walk students home on late nights.

The issues of better pay for DPS officers and changing the Student Code of Conduct especially struck a cord, and many said that having the lowest paid campus officers in the city is creating a “revolving door” situation, where the officers come to Georgetown for paid training and then leave for other universities.

As for the changing of the Student Code of Conduct, there was also a consensus that hate crimes need to be treated with as much seriousness as assault, sexual assault, and theft.

Subbaraman in the LGBTQ Center

LGBTQ Center Director Sivagami Subbaraman told the Voice that yesterday’s incident—which was described in the campus-wide email as “a written slur posted on the door of the LGBTQ Resource Center”—involved a note addressed to her personally that was taped to center’s door.

Subbaraman did not reveal the exact wording of the note, but said it was directed at her personally, not the wider gay community.

“I have no idea whether this is because of the recent hate crimes or not, but whatever it is, I just want to say that I’m not afraid of their fear,” Subbaraman said. “They are afraid of me, but I’m not afraid of their fear.”

Subbaraman said she was pleased with the University’s inclusion of her in the response to the crimes through every step of the process, including drafting the emails that went out to students after each incident.

Now, she said, the power to fight homophobia lies with the campus community. Subbaraman encourages students of all orientations to use the LGBTQ Center as a safe space, but also as an informational resource for those who are unfamiliar or disagree with homosexuality.

“We have to put out a call to say, ‘Look, we can talk this out,’” Subbaraman said. “We have made so much progress since the Center was opened. I’m nervous that this is going to set us back.”

Full text of the e-mail Subbaran sent to members of GU Pride Monday afternoon after the jump.

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Metropolitan Police Department Chief Cathy Lanier spoke to WTOP about the recent anti-gay incidents on and around campus and said she believes the incidents qualify as hate crimes.

Contrary to what MPD Lieutenant John Hedgecock, who covers Georgetown and Burleith, told the Advisory Neighborhood Commission yesterday, Lanier says MPD will be pursing the cases.

Lanier told WTOP:

“These assaults, on or off campus are a serious concern for us. We will do everything in our power to bring those responsible to justice. We have aggressive laws in the District to prosecute hate crimes to the fullest extent of the law, and we intend to use them.”

According to WTOP, MPD is encouraging anyone with information about the incidents to come forward.

At tonight’s Advisory Neighborhood Commission meeting (which Vox will have a full write-up of tomorrow), Lieutenant John Hedgecock said that Metropolitan Police Department was not investigating either of the recent hate crimes because the victims would not talk to police. Hedgecock said both victims were contacted multiple times by MPD, including by the Gay and Lesbian Liason Unit.

Hedgecock added that the description of the assailant involved in Sunday’s assault is vague, because the victim could not remember much about the attack.

“He had really no recollection of what had occurred,” Hedgecock said.

University spokesperson Andy Pino said University had referred the crimes to MPD and did not know the status of any investigations.

A couple hundred students gathered in Red Square Monday evening holding candles to speak out against the recent anti-gay violence.

Representatives of student groups from GU Pride to the Georgetown branch of the NAACP spoke at the vigil, as well as Georgetown faculty, staff, and administrators. Chris Farris and Todd Metrokin, Co-Chairs of the D.C. group Gays and Lesbians Opposing Violence, and Sergeant Carlos Mejia from MPD’s Gay and Lesbian Liason Unit also made an appearance.

“We are here today in solidarity with the victims of these crimes,” Co-President of GU Pride Joseph Graumann (SFS ’11) said. “But solidarity is more than sympathy. It’s more than just standing by. It’s about action.”

Students at the vigil advocated a range of responses to improve student safety and address what they perceive as a campus culture that tolerates homophobia. Among the suggestions were a student community watch program and higher pay for DPS officers, as well as individual precautions like programming the DPS number into cell phones and reporting crimes when they occur.

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