Recent News

President Todd Parnell was kind enough to visit Dr. Kenny's WGST 101 class today to discuss possible solutions to the problems of vandalism and on-campus violence/discrimination against women.

Possible suggestions for improvement included:

• specifically citing acts of vandalism as against Drury policy and including such a statement on an ethics contract, to be signed during freshman orientation;
• spelling out clearer and stricter guidelines regarding policy and punishment of crimes of vandalism, violence, and sexual assault;
• providing a more accessible and appropriate venue for victims of domestic violence or sexual assault on campus;
• publicly admitting that there may be a problem on Drury's campus, then taking steps to address the underlying contributing factors while reassuring the community that actions for improvement are underway.

Students also suggested the possibility of protest to raise awareness of the issues at hand:

• Pink T-shirts reading "You Can't Piss On This" are being distributed to interested students.
• A campus-wide "no participation" day may be organized, in which females congregate at Burnham Circle instead of attending class in an effort to show what happens when their voices are silenced.
• Films addressing these issues could be shown, with an invitation to the student body to attend and learn.
• In another visible effort to raise awareness about the high rates of domestic violence in this county, females could come to school wearing makeup bruises and supporting males could sport T-shirts listing statistics for the cause.

If you have any suggestions, please leave them in a comment. Thank you!

Letter from the President

The following letter was sent out campus-wide via email and also appeared in the Drury Mirror online.

To Members of the Drury Community,

As a university committed to building an environment of inclusion for all persons, we deplore the recent acts of vandalism against posters produced by the Drury University chapter of Amnesty International. The posters, encouraging personal expressions of support for ending violence against women, were powerful statements of inclusion. That some members of the Drury community saw fit to rip them from walls and destroy them in a disgraceful and insulting way is reprehensible. We have asked Drury Safety and Security to review videotapes from the buildings in which the vandalism took place, and every effort will be made to identify and sanction the perpetrators. Domestic violence is a tragic epidemic in our community and region, and must be acknowledged and addressed.

Just as important is the necessity to decry these actions as inconsistent with the university's commitment to civil discourse. Each member of the Drury community has a voice and must feel free to use it to express her/his identity. We need not all agree on every subject. However, those actions which serve to silence or marginalize members of the community are antithetical to Drury's traditions of inclusion and civil dialogue -- and to the highest calling of a university education.

Plans were already well underway for a visit to campus in late April by Dr. Karen Kaivola of Stetson University, an expert in gender issues in higher education to begin a constructive assessment of the Drury community. This most recent incident testifies to the importance of remaining vigilant on such matters. We are committed to assuring that this incident becomes a powerful teaching/learning moment, one that promotes a dialogue committed to more fully realizing our responsibility to create a more inclusive university community. Anything less is simply not acceptable.

Todd Parnell, President
Tijuana Julian, Vice-President for Student Affairs
Charles Taylor, Vice-President for Academic Affairs

Vandalism is Violence Too

The following was written by students in Erin Kenny's WGST 101 class and appeared in the Drury Mirror online.


Dear Drury Community,

We are writing to comment on the recent vandalism to signs posted to raise awareness of violence against women in our community.

It is ironic that acts of violence were perpetrated against such signs; e.g., the signs that were removed and destroyed across campus, but perhaps most symbolically, the signs in Springfield Hall that were ripped down and urinated upon.

Whether you are directly involved in this incident or not, this kind of behavior affects every member of our community. Is Drury really ok with violence against women?

We ask the women of our community: Do you feel comfortable on a campus where the mere act of naming violence provokes more violence?

Some will say this wasn't "really" violence. No one was actually harmed.

We disagree.

While no one was physically harmed, this act attempted to silence members of our community who were trusting enough to share their stories. We call that oppressive. We call that violent. We call that harmful.

We want to point out that this is not the first act of aggression that has occurred on campus to innocent posters. What's so threatening about paper handprints and paper T-shirts? What even made someone take the time to tear it down? We suggest it is because our community does not take violence against women seriously enough.

We also want to point out that considerable time and energy was spent on this project by fellow Drury students, and that the money for these cut-outs did not come from student fees. Permission was granted from facilities services to post these signs.

We'd like to ask members of the Drury campus to weigh in on this debate. We encourage you to comment on The Mirror Web site (after this letter appears; you need an account and a login name to comment), or druryposters.blogspot.com.

The following people stand together in support of the content of this editorial: Mackenzie Love; Lawren Askinosie; Stefan Borg; Dominique Carney; Alex Dillard; Connor Eastman; Kayley Edwards; Aleshia Fenimore; Leah Gould; Bailey Greene; Caitlyn Greene; Jocelyn Haufle; Rachael Hazell; Lisa Hellmich; Logan Hoffman; Jonathan Thomas; Jeromy Layman; Derek Jenkins; Elizabeth Lay; Brittanie Lewis; Whitney Licis; Shanna Nelson; Adam Pitchford; Jonathan Vogt; Chelsea Weaver; Alexandra Duello; Taylor Zink; Taylor Thorn; Elizabeth Jones; Hollee Hagen; Kevin Ritter; Jessica Elam; Sarah Radke; Sara Werneke; Mallory Higgins; Conrad Remington; Hunter O'Neal; Kaitlin Vaughn; Claire Schmotzer; Sarah Verdone; Matthew Frierdich; Bonnie Lyons; Evan Coyne; Kristen Kramlich; Jessica Schneider; Carrie Morrow; Lisa Sifferman; Michaela Slama; Hollee Hagen; Nicole Dismore; Jocelyn Haufle; Katie Thompson; Stan Maxson; Dalston Ward; Jeremy Fuzy; Sarah McBride; Caitlin Pierce; Julie Hellmich; Tanner Roberts; Cecily Miller; Rachael Williams; Kelsey Kennell; Lindsay Johnson; Sarah Radke; Molly Rose Fehringer; Alexa Pointdexter; Sarah Dobbs; Ashley Fears; Sami Lester; Sarah Warfield; Laura Lovinger; Rachel Regan; Elyssa Smith; Liz Oakley; Ellie Galler; A. L. Marstellar; Jo Van Arkel; Jayne White; Mary Utley; Elizabeth Nichols; Rebecca Miller; Hueping Chin; Robin Miller; Saundra Weddle; Patricia McEachern; Laurie Edmondson; Michael Hill; Teresa Hornsby; Rebecca Denton; Regina Waters; Steve Mullins; Erin Kenny

Background Information

This blog was created in response to the vandalism that occured to the Amnesty International posters encouraging men & women to help support ending violence against women. Men were asked to write words of encouragement & support on hands going along with the theme "These Hands Won't Hurt". Women were asked to share experiences of abuse on t-shirts & in a way, "Air their Dirty Laundry". In response, twenty-two shirts & eight hands were submitted, proving that violence against women is a very real issue on our campus. Unfortunately,several "bathroom actions" were taken down & urinated on. Statistics were made to be about men instead of women by marking out the "w&o". Hands that had been written on were crumpled & thrown in the trash. Several hands were made to only display the middle finger & others said "Chris Brown is my hero". While the "bathroom action" was turned into a joke for many, others were made aware of the very real problem Drury University faces when it comes to violence against women & freedom of speech.

-The Intro to Women Gender Studies Letter will be in this weeks Mirror.
-Faculty t-shirts will include stop signs & the slogan "stop hate crimes".
-Potential protest of the Springfield Hall men's restroom may occur.
-Student t-shirts with the slogan "you can't piss on this!" are being discussed.
-"Action Day" may occur the week Jessica Valenti visits in April.
-Responses to the hands & t-shirts will be either in the Mirror or in newspaper form sometime this week.
My hope is that this group can help all of the individuals concerned with the events that have occured communicate, organize & work together in our response.

Facebook groups on the subject: You Can't Piss on This (above text taken from this group's wall), WGST at DU