The following comic was published in Notre Dame’s student newspaper, The Observer, on January 10.
As you can see, it bears the following punchline:
A: What is the easiest way to turn a fruit into a vegetable?
B: No idea.
A: A baseball bat.
While I’m stunned by the utter tastelessness of this comic—and the fact that it was approved by an editor—I can’t say I’m surprised. Notre Dame is notoriously hostile toward gay and lesbian students and alumni. In the most-recent Princeton Review rankings, the school ranked number five in the “Alternative Lifestyles Not An Alternative” category. Back in 2004, it held the top spot for two years in a row.
What else? The school refuses to recognize sexual orientation in its non-discrimination statute. It refuses to officially recognize gay student and alumni groups, such as Gay and Lesbian Alumni/ae of Notre Dame and St. Mary’s College. Ironically, as the link above shows, the University has even banned them from advertising in the Observer, which is ostensibly an independent paper.
In the wake of the cartoon appearing, there have been apologies. Notre Dame President John Jenkins has apologized. Jan Metz, editor in chief of the Observer has apologized. Kara King, the editor who approved the comic has resigned. The cartoon has been canceled; its creators have apologized as well.
It’s not enough. A culture of discrimination is embedded on campus. And unfortunately, as long as gay and lesbian groups can’t be recognized, as long as non-discrimination standards don’t apply, students and alumni are abetting this discrimination with their support for the University of Notre Dame. We’re condoning a place that doesn’t treat gay people with simple decency. That’s not right.
What can we do? I plan to call President Jenkins tomorrow to express my disapproval and to let him know that I won’t support Notre Dame in any way—from buying a T-shirt at the Bookstore to cheering for the football team—until the University stops discriminating against its gay students and alumni. If it can’t take this step, I’m no longer interested in being associated with them.
I can only hope that others feel the same way and express their disapproval.
If you’re an alum or a student, as you consider a potential response, consider this: As sociology professor Dan Myers reveals, the original punchline for the cartoon had “AIDS” instead of a “baseball bat.” This version was only rejected because someone from the Observer quipped, “We prefer not to make light of fatal diseases.” Well, as far too many gay people can attest, being beaten due to your sexual orientation can be a “fatal disease.” As can the hopelessness of rejection and discrimination due to your sexual orientation, attitudes that should have no place at Notre Dame.
Possibly even more offensive is the creators’ lame excuse: “We were trying to show what we don’t believe.” Yeah, ok. They claim that the human character is the voice of reason and doesn’t understand the joke because of its offensiveness, but unless there is more to the cartoon that I haven’t seen, it really seems that he doesn’t understand the joke because he hasn’t heard the punchline yet. Seems like admissions standards at Notre Dame are at an all time low.
I agree, Craig. I’m sure they want to claim this as a work of satire, but it’s an utter failure, especially given the discriminatory context surrounding it on campus.
[...] article seems especially appropriate, given that, due to its anti-gay policies, Notre Dame is in danger of turning into a bigot I have [...]