Comments on: Homophobia plagues Williams College

By: Andrew de Geofroy

Andrew de Geofroy — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 18:45:18 +0000

Thanks for the other point of view, Eph, and glad you had a good experience there (and here!). Your comment about it being like any typical student body (“some jackasses but largely a progressive bunch”) is, in my experience, pretty representative of a lot of colleges, especially in New England. Things are moving forward, and I think a lot of people have the misconception that no one ever faces discrimination in these places because they’re viewed as these elite, liberal institutions. People forget how easy it is to ignore injustice.

By: Eph

Eph — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 07:43:04 +0000

As also a gay Williams alum, I would say that that we did have a very supportive administration, and the students were like any typical smart college students — some jackasses but largely a progressive bunch. I did feel as if it was tough to be “different” at Williams, which of course includes being gay. Very stifling; hard to find yourself. I did have one nasty homophobia-related incident (“Security” was called), but I agree that it’s not an overwhelming problem there relative to other places.

Very well-reported, well-written story, though.

By: Andrew de Geofroy

Andrew de Geofroy — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 23:01:54 +0000

Hi anon04,

Given your connection to the places and people involved in the story, I can understand your concern, but with the exception of the headline, I think this was a very fairly reported story. In fact, much of the article is devoted to pointing out that Williams is a progressive institution that works to improve. Nowhere in the article did it say that the campus was homophobic, and instead pointed out that it was an action by a few misguided individuals. There’s even a quote by an openly gay current student describing the “very positive and accepting community.”

That said, thank you for taking the time to comment and give us your point of view; we always strive to be better, and appreciate your reading and commenting.

Andrew de Geofroy is the Blast Ombudsman

By: anon04

anon04 — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 20:01:46 +0000

As a gay alumnus of Williams, I find the reporting in this story faulty. The campus is not nearly as homophobic as this story portrays it to be, and describing it as such is a great disservice.