04 pres. retracts e-mail statement
Reporting about the SGA, not a record of it: The Johns Hopkins News-Letter published this and the SGA did not write it, file it, or approve it. The archive holds it because the article itself uses the phrase “student council”.
Summary
- This Johns Hopkins News-Letter article reports on a Class of 2004 president’s apology after a comment about class T-shirts drew concerns.
- The News-Letter reported that Simone Chen’s e-mail called “Light blue is gay” a false idea because light blue was “a very masculine color” and fashionable.
- The paper reported that Chen apologized to her class and DSAGA, calling the remark offensive, inappropriate and irresponsible, while saying she had no malicious intent.
- The article says DSAGA director Jonathan Groce reported that students found the comment potentially offensive, especially to GLBTQ students, while also saying he believed it was innocent.
- The reporter writes that adviser Bill Smedick called Chen’s apology sincere, appropriate, timely and heartfelt.
- The article adds that the incident followed messages about defaced cultural-group posters, and that Groce hoped it would increase awareness of how phrases such as “that’s so gay” can affect people.