On Oct. 1, a resident advisor in East Quad reported a "distressing" word written on the outside of a student's door. This was the fourth such incident this year on the same hallway, Pomerantz 2, following similar findings on Sept. 5, 7, and 12. The graffiti (the word "fag") was first found on whiteboards on students' doors, according to East Quad Director Luigi Solla. The slur was written in Russian once and in English the other two times.

In the most recent incident, added Ed Callahan, Director of Public Safety at Brandeis, the word was written on a photograph of an automobile hung on a student's personal bulletin board.

East Quad Senator Andrei Khots '05, recounted a slightly different version of story, saying that the insult was written directly on the surface of the door.

Callahan and other campus police are investigating the act, but have yet to find the culprit. They have interviewed residents of East, and are continuing to do so.

"No one has accepted responsibility yet. Usually people won't. They write inappropriate things and then they hide," Callahan stated.

"The community should be aware that we actively investigate these types of harassment. We don't take them lightly."

Initial reactions to the incidents revealed anger and shock according to Rachel Rausch '05, a resident of East, "We were all pretty disgusted by it. Or more like surprised. I don't really know what word to use, but we weren't happy," she said.

"What do you say to something like that? First of all, it is ridiculously uncalled for. Second of all, I guess it just goes to show that as safe as we feel at Brandeis, we can't be one hundred percent safe from everything. Unfortunately."

"This is unacceptable. It's something that shouldn't happen in a community of educated individuals," Callahan said.

"The University expects people to be understanding and tolerant and to act appropriately. There's no place for this type of conduct," he said.

"It is pretty unfortunate," Solla said.

He went on to say that the incident "creates a hostile living environment for a lot of people who may identify as gay, lesbian, or bisexual, and for those who support them."

Khots admitted that prank messages, often from friends, are not uncommon on dormitory doors, nor are ruder messages. He emphasize, "I've never seen this before, with writing directly on the door. That is taking it too far."

Khots mentioned that in this case, "the person personally is not gay." To Khots, however, the act is still "very offensive."

Callahan spoke to the same point. "This shouldn't happen regardless of whether the individual is heterosexual or homosexual."

The issue has not been ignored. A recent meeting in East addressed such incidents.

"We talked about resources available if someone feels he or she is in a homophobic situation," Solla said. The mood of the meeting, he said, was "vigilant and upset."

"People on this campus take for granted that this stuff happens and don't realize that people can be hurt. It's not funny... Regardless of the intent and the maliciousness, it's a serious act," Leslie Meltzer '03 said.

Meltzer expressed worry that many students feel powerless against gay-directed hate crimes.

Rausch also had the same opinion, "I guess I feel helpless because we can't do anything about it. There's no direct action to take," she said.

Meltzer hopes to disprove this view, and the October 1st gathering was a good start.

"There has been a rise in intolerance. People think it's ok to just say things and not care," Khots said.

An East Quad Solidarity Campaign is in the making, according to Solla. "It's East Quad against hate, against ignorance towards any culture," he explained.

He plans to have bulletin boards in East explaining that hate speech is "offensive and threatening." Also, he hopes to organize a ribbon, sticker, or button campaign to show "East quad pride" against hate.

"Yes, it's important to be active after an incident. But it's also important to be proactive before situations happen," Solla said.