ARTWORK CREATES CONTROVERSY
by Gary L. Morella
SU's acceptance of sculpture is hypocrisy.
In regard to the Collegian piece (Jan. 17) on the desecration of a
statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary at Penn State, the problem is not
with Christine Enedy. The problem is with a University administration
that would display Christine Enedy's work as art in total disregard of
the feelings of a large segment of the campus community who honor the
Mother of God as an article of Faith.
It is the essence of hypocrisy for Penn State to preach tolerance and
sensitivity for all under an umbrella of multiculturalism and
diversity while concurrently allowing the trashing of one of the major
symbols of Christendom.
Would Penn State have us believe that desecration of caricatures of
Martin Luther King, Bella Abzug, Benjamin Netanyahu, or Barney Frank
have been allowed as indicative of a "student and faculty member
behaving in a responsible and appropriate manner in an educational
process?"
Such was the response from the Dean of the School of Arts and
Architecture to a complaint by a member of the staff toward Enedy's
"art."
The question is one of accountability.
Since when is the allowance of discrimination against a large segment
of the campus community part of the educational process at an
institution of higher learning?