Abolishing Stereotypes Key to Hilltop Tolerance

A recent Georgetown-related blog post advised prospective students that our school was not a safe environment for those who could not conform to the established stereotypes known as “Joe and Jane Hoya.” The blog warned that some in the Georgetown community might not be tolerant of certain students for who they are and how they choose to live their lives. In fact, the blog’s most blunt warning was that students could be beaten simply for wearing a T-shirt with some words on it.

I know my Georgetown is better than that, and that the stereotype of Joe and Jane Hoya is an ideal that no longer reflects the reality at Georgetown. Ending this stereotype will not end hate crimes, but it will be a step in the right direction. Sorry, Joe and Jane. It is time to rest in peace.

One of our school mottos is “community through diversity.” For the most part, Georgetown has stayed true to that ideal and has been a beacon of tolerance. Georgetown was the first American university to hire a full-time imam, and we were also the first Catholic university to hire a full-time rabbi. The 2008 establishment of the LGBTQ Resource Center was our most recent step in the right direction. As a GUSA senator, I have been able to introduce and see passed two recommendations to change the Student Code of Conduct to make hate crimes category-C violations. These provide increased legal protection for victims of such crimes, and we have sent a message explaining that we view any acts of hate to be absolutely contradictory to the school’s mission.

I will not deny, however, that a very small minority of students remain committed to acts of gross ignorance and intolerance that threaten the very fabric of our diverse campus. These students deserve not just our outrage, but a response that expels them from the Hilltop. These students try to instill fear in others because of their own inadequacies, and for that there is no excuse.

I was a victim of a bias-related incident in my freshman year at Georgetown; before that experience, I had not known what a hate crime was. I knew my grandparents were sent to Buchenwald because of their religion, but I never expected hatred to exist in the 21st century. I was naïve.

I cannot fathom what the most recent victims are going through. They never expected that they would be attacked for being themselves. We have reached the point of no return at Georgetown; our school is under attack by dark forces seeking to harm the soul of our campus. We must not let them win.

The recent hate crimes and bias-related incidents on and near campus generate feelings of anger, frustration and despair. Elie Wiesel urges us to “go into the despair and go beyond it, by working and doing for somebody else, by using it for something else.” We can use our despair to change the nature of the game.

If protesting in Red Square and marching for equality are not your thing, there are other steps we can take as a community to respond to these acts of intolerance. Changing the nature of the conversation is the first step. When a friend refers to something as “gay” or makes a seemingly harmless racist or sexist joke, most of us know it is wrong. It is finally time to call our friends out for this and say, “Hey, relax.” These small statements can help to build change.

Joe and Jane Hoya are often viewed as a white and Christian pair; both do well in school, and Joe may play sports. In the past, this was an ideal many strived to emulate. I know I felt encouraged to dress the part. But our community here has such a wide trove of diversity — in terms of experience and background — that this stereotype no longer applies. If we stop idealizing a single experience, we can accept others for their differences. That would encourage future Hoyas to just be themselves and would demonstrate our solidarity as one Georgetown.

I find a quotation from one of the literary heroes of our generation, Albus Dumbledore, to be the perfect advice for a campus sullied by violent acts of hatred: “It is important to fight, and fight again, and keep fighting, for only then can evil be kept at bay, though never quite eradicated.” We will not be able to stop hate crimes, but we can change the nature of the game by trying to limit them. And that starts with eliminating Joe and Jane Hoya. We are one Georgetown composed of many different Joes and Janes.

Josh Mogil is a junior in the School of Foreign Service and a Georgetown University Student Association senator.

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