The Tufts University Police Department reported today that Tufts' cannon, painted in rainbow colors to celebrate National Coming Out Day, was vandalized yesterday morning.
They found the word "smut" painted on the cannon. It was also found painted over a chalking of the word "rainbow" on the pathway in front of the cannon.
"Even though we were one of the top 20 gay-friendly schools, we had an incident this morning that shows us that our community is not perfect," Dona Yarbrough, Director of the Tufts Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) Center, said at the Coming Out Day event at the Campus Center yesterday.
Sophomore Sofia Nelson, who was there when the police arrived and aided in repainting the cannon, said many students were upset by what they saw.
"I was standing there and many people came up and offered their support to us," she said.
"We take this very seriously," she said. "But this is not indicative of the whole community."
Nelson said that while she felt a bit discouraged by the graffiti, she hopes it will motivate students into action against homophobia. "I hope it will assuage some of the complacency on campus and get more people involved."
"It was one person going out of their way for hate," said freshman Sabina Carlson at the event. "That's one person too many."
Yarbrough called for solidarity at the event. "We must work together," she said.
"It isn't just the LGBT community," said Daniel Katz, co-coordinator of the Queer-Straight Alliance. "This affects everyone at Tufts."
The outdoor event on the Campus Center patio, attended by roughly 50 students, faculty, and staff members, featured students and professors relating their experiences of "coming out" and publicly acknowledging their homosexuality.
"It is hard to hate people you know, people you love," Yarbrough said in support of community events like Coming Out Day.
"There has never been a better week to come out than this week," Fletcher professor John Perry said to the crowd. "With the congressional scandals, this is the type of thing the closet encourages."
After police arrived and documented the incident, Nelson and other members of the Queer-Straight Alliance painted the pathway black and re-painted the cannon rainbow.
"We didn't let it ruin our day," said Nelson.
