We received many responses to Michael Ceragioli's Letter to the Editor last week. The following are some excerpted responses.

As a queer student of the 5Cs, I actually tend to agree with the author of this article that political correctness is causing a stifling of dialogue amongst student groups on campus. I have been to countless talks, political discussion groups, and casual events at this school in order to be educated, only to witness open hostility by the people in charge. I am a firm believer in empathy, i.e. understanding that other people have differing viewpoints and trying to meet them in the middle. If you feel marginalized, then educate, but come on! Isn't it counterproductive to stage rage and this "martyr" complex to students who have showed up for the event in the first place? I have been to queer events in which students were given the silent treatment, scowls, and rudeness because they failed to grasp advanced, post-modernist ideas about gender identity the first time around.

--Maria Whittle PO '12

What do I hear, as a student of color, when I hear people complain about campus being TOO politically correct? It sounds to me like I don't matter, my concerns are silly, I'm being too sensitive. F**K THAT. Maybe YOU need to accept that your words, behaviors, attitudes, etc. do have consequences. 

Also, what Pomona College are you talking about? No racism here? Really?! No, there aren't people walking around in Klan attire, but that doesn't mean that there isn't racism.

--Excerpted from an anonymous comment on TSL's website

Instead of crying that you are being "censored," why don't you actually go talk to some students of color and hear their perspectives on why racism is alive and well at Pomona College? By your own words, you admit that you've "never observed behavior on campus that [you] would call racist, nor... heard any rumors of racism." Great. That simply proves that YOU have never personally experienced any of this, and you should probably examine why this is. But instead, you decided to preemptively silence the students of color who would dare to bring up issues that they've faced by saying that racism doesn't exist on our campus.

--Silas Berkowitz PO '12

...If we negate the existence of racism, then we create a culture that can subsequently censor people from voicing their experiences. Let's accept that even if the way people enforce political correctness may seem stifling, it comes out of a burning passion to make the world a better place, a more inclusive and accommodating space.

--Excerpted from a Letter to the Editor by Chrysanthe Oltmann PO '12

Believe it or not, Michael Ceragioli was too nice to you in his Letter to the Editor last week. I took the liberty of obtaining a copy of the opinions article he wanted you to publish, and let me say: there is exactly zero justification for refusing to publish it. He did not swear. He did not falsely provide anything as fact. He didn't attempt to incite violence or law-breaking. The man just told it as he sees it. You might disagree with his opinions, but that is the point. It is an opinions article! Michael represents the most oppressed group on campus—the "non-Pomonans." The people who, when they publish a TSL article, are immediately bombarded by comments telling them that their viewpoints are "ignorant, uninformed, incredibly privileged, and poorly thought out." These are the people who are constantly afraid to speak their minds at Pomona. And, apparently, when one of them has the courage to try to voice their opinion, you deny them a podium to stand on. It is perhaps the greatest tragedy on campus that we, who claim to be the champions of free thought and expression, are the worst oppressors I've ever seen. This is not to diminish the struggles and oppression of other groups, but to point out that their struggles are at least recognized openly by many here, while nobody recognizes the struggle of the "non-Pomonans."

--Excerpted from a Letter to the Editor by Ashvin Gandhi PO '13