Locatelli: Hate speech has no place on campus

By Patricia Jiayi Ho

President Paul Locatelli, S.J., spoke at his annual State of the University speech on Tuesday afternoon, where he struck a balance between addressing both positive and negative issues at the school.

He spoke at length to the approximately 700 students, faculty and staff in attendance about Santa Clara's commitment to ethical behavior, diversity and community.

Locatelli sidestepped complex budget issues. Instead, he referred audience members to Wednesday's university budget forum in the de Saisset museum.

He did, however, mention some fund raising good news, including successes for the capital campaign and increased alumni giving.

"I was glad he addressed some of the accomplishments of the faculty, students and staff, but also highlighted some of the recent unpleasant incidents," Marilyn Edelstein, an associate professor in the English department, said.

Such "unpleasant incidents" include an anti-gay e-mail that was sent to several students last fall and anti-Semitic messages scrawled in some Orradre Library books.

"Discriminatory harassment is antithetical to the dignity of the human person and has no place in an institution of higher education, let alone a Catholic, Jesuit one," Locatelli said. "I want to reaffirm the values of learning about ethnicity, races, national origin and cultures, both the multi-cultures in the United States and world cultures."

"It's important for the senior administrator to address these issues," Edelstein said. However, she also acknowledged the limitations of the speech, saying students who deface books are unlikely to attend in the first place. "A lot of the time, you're preaching to the converted."

Locatelli referred to a more recent incident in which some Santa Clara students taunted firemen as they fought a fire at nearby Buchser Middle School on Sunday.

Many who attended expressed surprise at the middle school incident.

"I didn't know any of that happened," sophomore marketing major Kelly Giddings said. "It's out of character for students here to do that because I would have never expected that kind of action from anybody I know."

Locatelli also spoke about another hot-button issue on campus: race. This quarter, many students participated in an online debate about the role of the student-led Multicultural Center on campus and a controversial T-shirt some felt represented reverse discrimination against whites.

He commended students who voiced their disagreements and opinions in a constructive manner.

"I am happy that students felt free to express their views openly, raising some difficult differences about perceptions and perspective, and then respectfully talking about them," he said. Locatelli also praised Associated Students, another student-led organization, for providing the online forum where students posted their comments.

Locatelli highlighted the college's academic achievements, citing the U.S. News and World Report poll that ranks Santa Clara as second among 156 Western masters universities.

"I thought it had a lot of good information for people to know about the school and how well the university does when it comes to polls and national rankings," Giddings said.

Locatelli did say, however, that weaknesses in academic advising need to be addressed, but he did not go into specifics.

The president concluded his speech on an optimistic note: "We have much to be proud of and much still to accomplish."

This year marks Locatelli's 16th year as president of the university. He is the 27th president to serve since its founding in 1851.