Blessed Mother Statue Vandalized With Paint for the Second Time
The statue of the Blessed Mother on Copley Lawn was vandalized Friday night for the second time in a month, according to an e-mail sent out to students by Todd Olson, vice president of student affairs, and Rocco DelMonaco Jr., vice president for university safety, Saturday afternoon. This is the third incident of vandalism committed against campus statues reported to students since Feb. 22.
In this most recent incident, paint was discovered on the Statue of the Blessed Mother early Saturday morning, according to university spokesperson Julie Bataille. The statue was then fully cleaned, Bataille said.
According to the e-mail sent out to the student body, the Department of Public Safety has enlisted the help of the Metropolitan Police Department to investigate these cases. Additionally, DPS will be increasing its presence on campus, especially in the affected areas and near other religious statues and sacred spaces.
In all three incidents, paint has been used to vandalize campus statues. The first and third incidents both involved the Blessed Mother statue, while in the second incident, which occurred the weekend of Mar. 1, paint was found on the statue of former professor and human rights advocate, Jan Karski playing chess on a bench, which currently sits outside of White-Gravenor Hall.
In Saturday’s e-mail, Olson and DelMonaco decried all three acts of vandalism as inappropriate, especially regarding the two incidents involving a religious symbol on a Jesuit campus.
“All acts of vandalism on campus are troubling because they undermine the mutual respect we try to foster in our university community. That the target of this most recent incident again included a sacred statue makes the act of particular concern. As a Catholic and Jesuit university committed to interreligious understanding, we expect that all religious symbols and sacred spaces on campus are respected,” the e-mail states.
In light of the recent acts of vandalism, officials from the Office of Student Affairs met with students this weekend and plan to hold another student meeting this week to discuss what steps ought to be taken next, according to Bataille.
Mar 24 2009 at 4:28 p.m.
Is it really that hard to throw up a surveillance camera on the statues or something?
Mar 24 2009 at 7:31 p.m.
There were more than 3 incidents, John Carroll was vandalized before the first time Mary was. He was cleaned up within hours.
If you look for it there is also an anarchy sign painted on the steps of Copley and there were some elsewhere on campus weeks before John Carroll was painted.
Mar 24 2009 at 7:47 p.m.
There is no February 31...
Mar 24 2009 at 8:58 p.m.
I agree with the above poster. Spend the money; quietly setup a wireless (and IR, since it's going to happen at night) security camera, and catch them in the act. This isn't that hard.
Having said that, this sort of situation is always delicate, in that really have to balance giving the matter enough attention (to condem it) with giving it too much attention (to the benefit of the vandal(s)).
One thing that will be sure to drive home the message: make sure whomever is doing it gets expelled, no questions ask. You damage school property: you get expelled. There's no rule that says students at a private institution should receive due process.
To be honest, I always wondered why the university didn't use security cameras in more locations around campus. You don't need to have people monitoring the feeds 24-7--you only need to keep a record for when bad things happen. It's a fantastic deterrent and a useful evidentiary device. (Obviously, they would need to be restricted to public spaces, e.g., the lawns, quads, rooftops, walkways, parking lots, etc. I'm not advocating putting cameras in classrooms or the library or anything like that).
Mar 24 2009 at 8:58 p.m.
As a Catholic and as a Georgetown student, these most recent acts of desecration are extremely upsetting. It is disturbing enough that something so disrespectful could happen once on this campus, but for it to happen twice is truly sickening. For those few who I have talked to who actually saw the statue in its desecrated state, it was a devastating and frightening experience.
Currently, there is not a vigil planned this time; instead, as a concerned Catholic student, I ask our fellow Hoyas to recognize that painting a statue of the Mother of Jesus in this way is not merely vandalism; it is desecration--a blatant sign of disrespect and an attack on all who share the Catholic faith--and no one's faith should be attacked like this, especially at Georgetown. Please stand with us and condemn all signs of irreverence our campus.
Mar 24 2009 at 11:48 p.m.
why not have someone guarding the statues 24/7? they have useless guards at the front desk of the dorms and the frickin LIBRARY who just sit there on their laptops. and that nutty lady in the library who sings could use the exercise. put her by the statue all night.
Mar 24 2009 at 11:49 p.m.
I imagine it is not so much a malicious, anti-Catholic individual(s), as it is probaly more than likely the College kids themselves doing pranks, which I am sure they will regret someday when they get a bit older and more mature. It is indeed immoral and sinful, but College pranks often are....
Hopefully, the individual(s) involved will contemplate their actions, and with the help of God and their consciences, remorse will set in and they will recognise the sinfulness of their actions and repent of them.
Glenn D
http://www.stgemmagalgani.com
Mar 25 2009 at 12:59 a.m.
A standing guard is not the answer. These people must be taught a lesson and a guard would only inhibit them for acting again.
I would advice a group of unidenntified vigilanties who would kick the ass of the punk that keeps messing with my faith and my school.
In the days where honor meant something, these ass-herps would fear a physical reprisal. Time to take a stand and reintroduce rationale "deterence".
Time to take actium.
Hoya Saxony, baby
Mar 25 2009 at 5:50 p.m.
I guess no one else on campus seems to care when a Christian or Catholic icon is desecrated. I for one hope the vandals get comeuppence.
Despite my faith, I wish a great deal of evil on them. Evil slighltly worse than the evil of their immature and twisted souls.
Of course, an ultimate Being and his ultimate Truth can fend for Itself, but thats not really the point. The statue is an expression of someone's attempt to connect with his or her Maker and Higher Calling. To desecrate it is to interfere with an innate and valuable part of the human experience.
The desecration makes me angry. Angry enough to react in a way inconsistent with my faith's tenents.
Luckily for them, their anonymity prevents me from giving action to my baser thoughts. Just the same, I hope misfortune befalls them, and if such misfortune were to take a form, I hope its a painful venereal disease.
Better Christians may think differently.
Saxon Gillis
Mar 25 2009 at 9:19 p.m.
Perhaps the school could take out an advertisement in "Soldier of Fortune"...alternatively, you could just get over yourself.
THE FACT REMAINS THAT THERE IS ABSOLUTELY NO EVIDENCE OF RELIGIOUS INTOLERANCE HERE.
Mar 26 2009 at 4:44 p.m.
Whether or not the intent of those who painted the statue was an attack on Catholicism or Christianity is inconsequential. The fact remains that this act was inherently irreverent and disrespectful of sacred symbol; thus, even if a result of ignorance, this was an act of religious intolerance. When people are forced to feel unsafe displaying outward signs of their religion, religious intolerance exists. That is the case here.