To the editorial staff of the Current:

I was very discouraged and incensed to see that the Current allowed the printing of an article containing outright homophobic and irrelevant statements in a non-opinion-piece article.  I am referring to the “Campus Peephole Problem” article written by Matthew Wilke and published in the March 9th edition of the Current.  The very last line of the article includes a homophobic statement taken from a student and seemingly included in the article for no perceivable reason.

I am referring to this quote, the last line in the article:  “Culinary arts student Mtayari Umoja said, “I don’t agree with homosexual lifestyle.  I have a serious problem with a dude looking at me.””

This statement comes at the end of an otherwise fact-based and decent article about the actual bathroom stall problems.  Is there really a need in this article for a student opinion, let alone a derogatory and inflammatory quote?  Was this student really the only student whom the author could find to give a quote about their feelings on this bathroom stall matter and why didn’t the author use better judgment than to include such a statement in the article?  In fact, I would love to hear the author’s reasoning as to why this statement was included!

I strongly encourage the Current to edit this article, re-post it with an apology for the humongous lapse in judgement in publishing it, and to reaffirm that the Current adheres to and encourages the campuses Diversity Value statement (taken from the 2015 Course Catalog PDF available online):

“Diversity: Because ARC is a community valuing the varied perspectives and experiences of students, faculty and staff, the college offers educational opportunities for enhancing cultural awareness, supporting diversity, and promoting the free exchange of ideas and the development of a culturally competent and inclusive college community.”

I believe the Current primarily produces good articles from talented student writers and was shocked to see such blatantly intolerant speech in the Current.

Kara DeSouza, professor of psychology