In response to last week’s bias incidents, a group of student leaders have created a photo exhibit displaying faces of Bowdoin community members standing in solidarity with the victims of the incidents. The exhibit, which was conceived and executed by Daniel Eloy ’15, will be visible on the walls of Smith Union starting Sunday.
The project contains blocks of straight-faced, black-and-white portraits of students, faculty and staff who agreed to join in the project. The words “We Stand With You” will be written across each portrait; there are currently 670 portraits in total.
“There’s this ambiguous support group that Bowdoin has, but no one can put a face to who is actually there for anyone who’s been a victim of bias,” said Eloy, who proposed and executed the project.
Students will have an opportunity to gather in Smith Union in the near future to discuss the portrait project as well as the recent bias incidents it addresses.
Residential Life also hopes to take this opportunity to meet with dorms to talk about these issues. Student groups have acted individually to spur conversation amongst themselves.
“[The photo campaign is built around] the idea of finding ways for Bowdoin students to show their solidarity and show their support with their peers who might feel threatened or unsafe because of the incidents that happened,” said Kate Stern, director of the Resource Center for Sexual and Gender Diversity.
The group of student leaders and deans considered several different ways to address the issue of bias on campus, one of which was the possibility of an additional public response such as an email or a letter.
However, those involved agreed that an all-encompassing, community-based project like the photo exhibit would be more effective.
Additionally, the group hopes that this exhibit will be the beginning of an annual “No Hate November,” a month intended to continuously fight bias on campus.
“While this year it’s reactive, hopefully in the future it’s proactive. That way, we’re not always doing it just after there’s an event,” said Leana Amaez, associate dean of multicultural student programs.
Because the perpetrators in these incidents are still unknown, President Barry Mills called a meeting of the Bias Incident Committee last week to convene and discuss potential responses to these incidents. The committee, which contains staff, faculty and students, then opted to send the initial email to the Bowdoin community.
Additionally, Amaez put forth the proposal to gather a group of student leaders to discuss further community-based responses.
These leaders came from multicultural groups, Bowdoin Student Government, athletic teams, Residential Life, Peer Health and the Resource Center for Sexual and Gender Diversity among other groups. This group then developed the photography project and “No Hate November.”
“It’s really important that students in particular continue to engage one another and challenge one another on these issues and make it something that this campus talks about,” Amaez said.