Racist letters, swastikas and anonymous threatening e-mails plagued out-spoken students at both the conservative and liberal ends of the spectrum this year. Yet students say the administration's insufficient response raises questions about its commitment to an atmosphere of tolerance and diversity.

The earliest reported incident occurred in October when Jose M. Padilla '97 found a swastika taped to the door of his Eliot House suite. The attack followed an Oct. 15 editorial column in The Crimson by Joshua A. Kaufman '98, in which he criticized the September issue of Peninsula magazine, a conservative student publication.

Kaufman's column centered on Peninsula's cover story "Know Your Enemy," which named prominent campus and public figures who Christopher M. Griffith '97, the author of the magazine's "Enemies List," felt were counter to Peninsula ideals.

Kaufman called the article the work of "a handful of reactionaries," and published the names from the magazine's masthead and encouraged students to "let them know how their drivel makes you feel."

The next morning, Padilla, one of those mentioned by name in Kaufman's column, found the hand-drawn swastika on the door.

Padilla said he felt falsely targeted, saying he had nothing to do with the article.

"It's irresponsible to print the names," Padilla said. "People can go vandalize their rooms, go drop off swastikas on their doors."

Peninsula was also attacked at the beginning of the spring term when the slogan of its recruitment posters, "Faith, family and freedom," was parodied by posters in which the slogan was substituted by "Racism, fear and bigotry."

Peninsula editor Bradley E. Whitman '98 called the attack an act of "ideological genocide" and expressed concern over the impact the false posters might have on first-year students who might be unfamiliar with the group.

But members of Peninsula were not the only conservatives attacked.

On Feb. 27, Undergraduate Council member Steven J. Mitby '99 found a letter on the door of his Lowell House suite calling him a "jackbooted Nazi thug" four days after he had spoken against a resolution to add "transgendered" to the characteristics named in the non-discriminatory clause of the Council's constitution.

Alex S. Myers '00, an openly transgendered student who sponsored the resolution, which later passed, condemned the letter as "not a proper response at all.... It does nothing to help either and possibly does a lot to hurt."

Mitby said the threats made him more hesitant to speak his mind.

"I'm concerned by the level of disrespect shown for dissenting opinions and particularly offensive is the use of the word 'Nazi,'" he said.

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