193 CommentsThe Columbia Marching Band has not always been known for their political correctness, and this time around it seems as if they have taken their controversial humor a step too far. Many people were offended by their Orgo Night “Gaza Strip: everyone wants a piece” promo fliers and took to notifying the administration. Following this, KevSho himself has sent an email–without the fancy email form typical of his messages–denouncing the posters:
Dear Students,
As a learning community that prides itself on our diversity and mutual respect, we are extremely disappointed at the poor judgment and poor taste shown by the CU Marching Band in its Orgo Night flier. To be sure, the University is dedicated to freedom of expression — even expression that can be offensive. But as educators we also have a responsibility to criticize and condemn speech that would surely be felt to be alienating by members of our community.
Administrators have shared this concern with the band and have engaged in conversations in an effort to hear different perspectives from a variety of individuals and student groups. The fact that band members have agreed to remove the posters and offered to apologize after listening closely to their classmates and peers about the hurt and belittlement experienced from the poster merits acknowledgment.
Our dialogue through difference demonstrates Columbia’s highest values. Along with the Office of Multicultural Affairs and other Administrators, we will continue to meet with students to discuss ways in which we can rely upon all members of our community to behave respectfully and to match the great freedoms enjoyed on this campus with an equal measure of responsibility to our fellow Columbians.
Sincerely,
Dean Shollenberger
Update: Here’s the poster:
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193 Comments
@CC 14 @Concerned Student: regardless of how people felt about reactions to the posters, I am disgusted by just how many people liked down this post. Seriously? Do you like the fact that some of his family members died? Sick.
@Helen The poster objectifies women, which isn’t funny. How hard is that to understand. The women = a piece = an object. Instead of telling people to “lighten up,” you should take this opportunity to learn humility and maturity. Jokes that make people feel badly because of their sex, color, etc. just aren’t funny. People have tried to teach us since kindergarten that it is not okay to make fun of others or cause harm to them, and many of us still seem to value individual false pride over common decency anyway.
@CCNY '18 Young and aspiring Columbia students please take some responsibility and ought never bring about any jokes even tangentially related to the Gaza Strip because upon knowing the joke somebody might reciprocally nuke the entire Harlem off this island. I know you all love your Butler as much as I love my CCNY campus blocks away, and let us meet at Oxford graduate school but not in Heaven.
@Anonymous ^ Thats actually racist against people in Gaza
@The Orgo Knight I’m SO starting an American Third Position group on campus next semester: that’ll help the “diversity discussion.”
@RA I’m sorry that your RA did not immediately know to reach out to you, but I know for a fact that they would want to know that you’re going through a hard time so they could figure out what they could do to support you, even if it’s just to talk and listen. And if you think they don’t care, try the RA on the floor below or above. This is why we chose/choose to be RAs, so please let them know (in whatever way you feel comfortable) when you’re feeling down. We are definitely concerned for and thinking of you, your family, and all the students and their families affected by the conflicts during this difficult time.
@luljezebel Seriously people? That jezebel article is total crap. This has literally nothing to do with Barnard/feminism. Sorry, but this simply doesn’t concern you. It’s a joke about a the promiscuity of strippers. If a stripper/gaza strip resident is offended, that’s one thing, but get your feminist BS out of here.
@Anonymous i think you’re completely missing the point. how you choose to identify yourself is up to you, be it republican, catholic, or whatever else.
i’m not sticking my neck out for any group in particular if you didn’t notice. the only group i called out was barnard and it had nothing to do with my view on the flyer and everything to do with the disrespect and lack of understanding of the value of a womans college. but thats a whole other can of worms.
the point is discrimination and oppression is still a disregard for a person and their identity regardless of what the identifier is. being racist or sexist is just as bad (to a certain degree) as discrimination based on political party or belief system. the fact that someone feels uncomfortable in a community that im usually comfortable in because of another person in the community is enough to make me feel the need to say something. it might not be “normal” for most people at this school to defend others when something doesnt directly affect their own lives, but i think its ridiculous that there is so much hate and hurt due to insecurities and if im not being attacked and my voice isnt being silenced then i feel obliged to assist and support in any way possible.
so yeah, long story short, if a group of republicans or catholics were being made fun of, i’d defend the shit out of them.
@CUCR I beg to differ. Where was that indignation last year?
@fact I have heard word from insiders in the anti-belittling-gaza-anti-belittling-women-too much stress from finals-possible side effect of anger due to adderall intake feeling- coalition that their is going to be some sort of protest at butler during orgo night. If you are heading over, make sure to bring your awkwardness blocking visers/sunglasses.
@Anonymous why do people think that supporting statements and images that make other people within a community uncomfortable or not feel safe is not a big deal and that these people who are offended are being too sensitive and need to toughen up? i agree that people should be allowed to say what they want without being censored, so censoring the fliers does nothing because the issue is beyond a piece of paper. (whether or not you believe this school is a real community is beyond the point)
the fact that students have no consideration or empathy for their peers who are uncomfortable with these statements is the problem, especially because orgo night is a community tradition and by supporting these statements you alienate a group of students and their allies by damaging their safe space because you denied the value of their experience through humor.
why are people upset about kevsho’s statement and consider it a war on fun….? what about oppressing other people and their life experiences is fun? is it really that difficult to have fun that the only way to do so is by making fun of others?
I think that people are offended not because of the statement, but because the statement calls out the fact that people don’t know what fun actually is and so it is much easier to grab onto something that is insignificant to your life and be insensitive about it because you DGAF and at the end of the day it doesn’t matter to you. but at the end of the day for whoever you offended, it matters and inflicting that offense upon someone else is just unnecessary. also, relieving your own tension and stress by deflecting your issues onto others should not be your form of fun. everyone has stress, and everyone has finals and other shit to deal with, so those things, among others just aren’t legitimate excuses for being to be racist, sexist, gender biased, homophobic, elitist, or any other form of prejudice
is it too much to ask for people to think rather than speak, reflect rather than regurgitate, process rather than respond, and support rather than oppress? I’m really tired of having conversations with family members and friends as to why my school continues to be affiliated with a bunch of “privileged, snotty, ungrateful, sexist, egotistical brats.” I don’t think a community should be defined by the actions of one/group of individuals, but at the same time, the lack of support or correction within the community from allies who may not be offended but can offer support is scarce, and many choose to silence their voices even when they do carry supportive sentiments because of the stigma associated with helping those that the majority picks on…
p.s. idk why more people haven’t acknowledged that both posters are actually offensive, but they are.
p.s.s. Though I don’t think the intent of any poster was intentionally directed towards offending Barnard women, I would like to point out that Barnard happens to be..A WOMENS COLLEGE..gasp! Meaning, womens rights and issues regarding gender bias and stereotyping are at the forefront of many of our minds, which means: if you put up anything that is offensive to women, in any way shape or form, regardless of intent, it is extremely likely that at least one person on our campus will directly call you out on it, usually more, each with a different reason. That doesn’t mean every student at Barnard feels that way, or that students at CC/SEAS/GS etc. don’t have a right or opinion on the matter, BUT its pretty much a guaranteed that there will be a BC contingency that responds that stems from the fact that we are…A WOMENS COLLEGE. please STOP BEING SURPRISED WHEN WE GET OFFENDED. or STOP BEING OFFENSIVE.
@Yeah So when they start making fun of Republicans or Catholics, you’re gonna stick your neck out to help prevent them from feeling marginalized, right?
@Eleanor Roosevelt Nobody can make you “feel” “oppressed” without your permission.
Oppression requires rule of law, and/or physical acts of coercion/confinement, not feelings.
Women in Afghanistan are oppressed. Black people in the antebellum south were oppressed. Japanese-Americans in internment camps were oppressed. Anne Frank was oppressed.
College students offended by a poster are NOT oppressed. The end.
I am surprised that the admissions office has seen fit to accept people who don’t know the difference.
@Anonymous the protection and support of the racist and sexist posters= socially supported exploitation of a group(s) = oppression.
so yes, oppression is the right word, and probably sounds dramatic to most people, maybe you should consider why you so quick to defend statements that stereotype and devalue others and are desensitized to these issues
i’m pretty sure cyberbullies didnt think they were oppressive until people took their own lives. and same with any group that has the fact that people think jokes at the expense of others is funny is just a result of the messed up society we live in that has caused discrimination to be so common that its a subconscious component of our behavior.
@Eleanor Roosevelt Please read up on DSM-V
There is such a thing as: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inferiority_complex
This has less to do with the supposed “oppressor” and more to do with the “oppressed”
Learn to ignore things, and they will go away. You cannot escape the world in which you live, and trying to bend people to your will is impossible without threatening and/or using force.
The world is a big, mean, nasty place. Human beings are, by nature, selfish animals – very competitive and willfully divisive at times. Better to learn this now rather than after graduation.
This is probably the biggest failing of the past few generations of primary education. Expecting the world to be “fair” and “nice” only leads to tremendous disappointment once you realize that humans have no base need to be either of those things all the time. Altruism is a false construct devised by some to get what they need without appearing to be selfish.
@Anonymous Uninhibited, Robust, and Tight-Arsed.
@Anonymous Amen’t though?
@Anonymous http://i.imgur.com/Gj6Mn.gif
@Wow we Gavin McGown is so so so off base. That’s what passes for scholarship?
@The Dark Hand >anonymously calling out someone by name on Bwog
classy
@Concerned Student I AM A PALESTINIAN, I am a Columbia student, and members of my family died a few weeks ago in Gaza. It was a tragic loss, and living with that today is difficult to deal with. The administration and my RA didn’t reach out to me, and instead of feeling like I’m in a place where I’m welcome, I’m greeted everywhere with posters like this that belittle those deaths, my loss, to nothingness.
I certainly amen’t laughing, but I also didn’t put forward a complaint to the OMA. But I did read Shollenberger’s email and smile.
Those of you who call for him to be fired… please wake up. These issues are very, very real.
@Another Palestinian Concerned Student,
I would like to say that I am with what you said 100%. I actually know people (no directly) who got killed in Gaza and seeing these posters around campus made me feel the same way. I just don’t understand how they don’t see it that way. Like you said, actually knowing people that die there then seeing these posters definitely makes seem that they are belittling their deaths. It’s nice to see someone seeing the matter for what it is really causing, so thank you.
@Anonymous Tragedy is when I cut my finger. Comedy is when you walk into an open sewer and die.
@The Orgo Knight This is going to be the best Varsity Show ever: we had everything for a perfect show in ONE SEMESTER: a creepy fake-student lurking around NSOP, 1020Gate and the coconut bottles filled with urine, that spoiled brat trying to cash in her 15 minutes as an “Ivy League Drop-Out,” the unmasking of The Dark Hand, the rise of the SS (SpecSucks), and now Shollenberger’s has shown his ass (well, so to speak) in an email. I’d like to buy tickets NOW, please.
@Well, I, for one, am extremely offended by this poster. That silhouette is a terrible representation of boobs.
@Anonymous Spring Orgo poster: exact same words, only with a male stripper.
@NLE Strippers have been objectified. Gaza has been objectified. It’s just a fact. Strippers by men and Gaza by Isreal. So whether or not you want to admit it, the poster is actually pretty acurate. This is run of the mill political satire. It brings to light serious issues by addressing them in a less than serious way. Isreal continues to grab at Gaza like a greedy, stinky strip club customer. It’s true and that’s all the poster said. It made no joke people that are suffering because of Isreal’s greed.
@Not to be obnoxious but... @NLE: It’s Israel, not Isreal. Learn to spell the name of the place you’re trying to demonize.
@Whoop Whoop! You set off the moron detector!
@NLE And calling me a ‘moron’ makes you SO intellectual. If you disagree with my comment, you could have just replied with ‘why’ you disagreed…
@Nu? Maybe I’m biased, but considering that Israel unilaterally disengaged its ground forces and forcibly evacuated its settler years ago, I could be wrong, but it doesn’t look to me like Israel wants anything to do with the Gaza Strip
@Member of the Band Um… Not for me. I would rather have no publicity (Orgo Night always has a huge following anyway) than this. I generally appreciate it when the administration doesn’t send out aggressive emails that encourage others to assume I’m a horrible, evil person just because a group I happen to be a part of published a flier with a poorly chosen (and in my opinion, not really that funny) pun. Because frankly, I didn’t like the poster in the first place, even before this happened but I find KSho’s incendiary email a lot more offensive than the poster ever was.
@Member of the Band Whoops, this was meant to be a reply to @Anonymous who said this was probably the best thing the band could hope for.
@The Honourably Based FILGB Dawww that was legit sweet. I cryied ;_;
@Will everyone just hop off of k$ho’s jock. Being Dean of “Student Affairs”basically means he has to do PR clean-up for anything that makes a large contingency upset…all this talk about him being fired and “burning in Nazi hell” is too much.
@CC '13 so no one’s studying for finals?
@Schweppes All of us are under a lot of pressure during finals. A little humor (or lack of) gives us a great excuse not to study…by opening discussion here. Sure, the flyer is controversial and a bit offensive, but loosen up!! Personally, as a Muslim student, I’m not offended, rather disappointed in the lack of humor. At least make it funny!
@HH Isn’t it free speech to express that the flier is sexist, racist, etc?
@Jess Of course! Did anyone say it wasn’t?
@Yes Great response from CUMB!
@I can only hope CUMB works this into their routine.
@Anonymous Hey guys
Let’s keep the procrastination going by protesting against more things
@It's an old joke... http://www.homebrewedtees.com/gaza-strip-club-everyone-wants-a-piece
@The Orgo Knight Dear Soon-To-Be-Former Dean Shollenberger,
As a learning community that prides itself on our diversity and mutual respect, we are extremely disappointed at the poor judgment and poor taste shown by your condescending mass email and self-appointment to the office of Supreme Arbiter of Good Taste. To be sure, the students whose tuition money pays for your ass to keep a seat warm and dole out brownstones to whatever group you feel like are dedicated to freedom of expression — even expression that can be offensive and ill-timed. But as Americans we also have a responsibility to criticize and condemn speech that would surely be felt to be alienating by members of our community, which ironically, yours certainly did.
The fact that band members have agreed to remove the posters and offered to apologize after listening closely to their classmates and peers about the hurt and belittlement experienced by an obviously very vocal minority from the poster merits acknowledgment: they’ve certainly learned to raise a glass to the bullshit that stifles free expression in everything from classroom “discussions” where dissent from the ostensibly “progressive” party line results in social and academic ostracism to 8.5″ x 11″ pieces of paper that, Heaven forbid, might cause someone a FEELING of discomfort.
You want discomfort? Take a walk through Riverside Park after dark.
You want hurt and belittlement? Stroll down Amsterdam Avenue and try to tell people what they can and can’t say.
Rather than creating a dialogue or raising issues of sensitivity, all you’ve done here, Mr. Shollenberger, is piss A LOT OF PEOPLE OFF and call yet MORE negative publicity to Columbia. After this gets forwarded to Ivygate, I think I’ll shoot your email over to FOX News, just to watch you squirm on television. I wonder what the N.Y. Post will say.
Beyond looking and acting like a buffoon (you realize that WE HAVE FINALS TOMORROW AND THAT WE MIGHT BE JUST A LITTLE BIT HIGH STRUNG RIGHT NOW?????) you also do the complainants (who, like me, remain mercifully nameless and faceless as they bask in the shadows of anonymity) a GRAVE disservice. Your responsibility is to help prepare young people for the rigors of the “real world,” which, as you might have heard, doesn’t bend over backwards to accommodate people’s hurt feelings.
I didn’t come here to have my or anyone else’s right to free speech infringed on through pressure coming from the Administration. If you think this kind of “soft touch” bullying in the name of “difference through discussion” or whatever you’re calling Thought Policing these days is going to go unchecked…
Well, you can explain it on television. Or you can issue an apology. Now.
Congratulations.
Sincerely,
The Orgo Knight
TL; DR: Piss off, Shollenberger.
@The Broadway Bomb M-meta Knight? Is… is that y-you?
@But actually The band made a show of apologizing, but when they took down the posters, they replaced it with this:
http://tinypic.com/r/30jmkhs/6
Seems to me like they didn’t get the point.
@yes they did this is the best possible response they could have done
@can't tell if people are always THIS annoyingly humorless or if finals has made them even more insufferable
@Sophie, BC '15 Hi all,
Just wanted to put things in perspective for a second. I don’t know about you, but lately with the emergence of ‘Columbia Compliments’, ‘Columbia Admirers’, ‘Overheard Columbia’, and the like, I’ve been feeling like this campus has gotten a lot smaller, more personal, and more friendly. Perhaps this is just my perception, but I have had way more great conversations with random strangers, had more people meeting my eyes in the hallway, and even my ‘class friends’ are transitioning to ‘real friend’ territory. It’s awesome! I think it at least partially has to do with the fact that more and more people are willing to proclaim to the rest of the CU community how great/smart/funny/cool they think other people are and that makes everyone more inclined to be aware of the other awesome people in their midst instead of remaining wrapped up in themselves.
Now there’s controversy and suddenly our default position is an ‘us-vs.-them’ mentality. Does anyone else see anything wrong with this? People were hurt by the fliers and they have every right to that emotion. Now, however, we’re seeing a pattern of people reacting to the emotions they are experiencing, both those who were hurt by the fliers and those who are in the band who are perhaps hurt or angered by the reaction to the flier. See how it’s snowballing? We tend to run into problems when we allow our emotions in ANY situation to dictate our primary reactions to something. I’m not saying I know better because I’ve reacted to situations emotionally countless times, but I am saying that I have regretted almost all of those hasty, emotional reactions.
It’s important to remember that the students who came up with the ideas for the posters are just students, just like the students who were offended are just students too.We are all a part of the same community and we are all learning together. The truth is, I will never know everything that offends everyone else. I’m open to learning so that I can avoid it in the future, and I am sure that the majority of other people who make mistakes like that are eager to learn as well. We all come from different backgrounds and perhaps some of us are ‘worse people’ than others, but I personally do not feel like I can decide who is in the ‘worse people’ category. The band was informed that others were hurt by those fliers, and they responded by apologizing. I can’t say anything more about the motivations of the individuals in the band or if they’re truly sorry, can you? Maybe we shouldn’t pretend we know.
I’m inclined to assume the best in people until proven wrong, just because I think if you want to see the ugly side of human nature you will see it and vice versa, but if you want to continue to have this debate you are totally free to do that.
In the meantime, I’ll be studying/enjoying hanging out with my friends before winter break. If you want, you could join us sometime! I can’t guarantee we won’t offend you, but I can guarantee that we’ll be very sorry if we do and willing to learn for the future.
Also, I’m putting my name on here because I want you all to know that I am a person just like you all. I am not in the position to judge anyone, although I am standing behind what I say because at this point I’ve put thought into my words and want to share them with you. I respect those who do not feel comfortable putting themselves forward when discussing such sensitive material, but I just wanted to let you guys put a name (and perhaps a face, maybe you know me? Hi there!) with the words.
Good luck with all your finals! Don’t be too stressed :)
@Anonymous Wasn’t this whole thing started by some old woman who doesn’t actually know anything about Columbia? Why does she have a right to feel hurt by an orgo night ad? Her reaction was based on ignorance and assumption.
@CC '15 Really, really well-said. Props and total agreement.
@k cc'13 you’re an idiot… the campus isn’t “getting closer” or any dumb shit, you’re just not a freshman anymore so you are getting to know people and make “real friends”
there were plenty of similar websites when i was an underclassman and the campus was just as unified or not unified as it is now
@Anonymous A Marxist socialist and unemployed Northwestern motivational speaker and self-proclaimed devout atheist was giving a seminar on the Gaza Strip.
”Before the seminar begins,” she demanded, “you must get on your knees and worship Mahmoud Abbas and accept that he is the most intellectual, inspiring human being the world has ever known, even greater than Jesus Christ!”
At this moment, a brave, patriotic, pro-free speech marching bandie who had attended over 1500 football games and understood the necessity of athletics and humor during finals week stood up and held up a poster.
“What does this poster say, pinhead?”
The arrogant speaker smirked and smugly replied “It’s advertising a racist, misogynist, pro-Israel orgy, you stupid patriarch.”
”Wrong. It’s for a charity comedy routine in Butler Library, with all proceeds going to Pet Partners therapy dogs.”
The speaker was visibly shaken, and dropped her laptop and copy of “Israel, Palestine, and the Queer International.” She stormed out of the room crying socialist crocodile tears to blog about her oppression on tumblr.
The students applauded and all joined the CUMB that day and accepted Ronald Reagan as their lord and savior. An eagle named “one-state solution” flew into the room and perched atop the American-Israeli Flag and shed a tear on the chalk. The pledge of allegiance and Torah were recited several times, and G-d himself showed up and lit the eighth candle on the menorah.
The motivational speaker lost her book deal and flew to Palestine to protest the next day. She was lawfully imprisoned as a dissident by the IDF and was never heard from again.
@The Orgo Knight Actually, she was probably given a tenured faculty position or one of Columbia’s many “Dean” titles. Deanocracy in action.
@Columbia Girl By and Large, Barnard Girls are Bi and Large
@CC' 16 The Bi-curious thing isn’t too shabby, you might wanna pick up on that.
But sure the large is somewhat accurate… at this whole university.
@cc '15 some girls on this campus just need to get laiidddd
@CC' 16 They’d be stripping for a bro, and yelling “Fuck you, you’re a man.”
Larry David does it best:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2TDIhrpf104
@Really, Ke$ho? It’s telling that this is what gets the administration riled up, and not the people calling their fellow students murderers and terrorists w/ regard to the U.S. military and the Israel/Palestine conflict.
Priorities, right?
@Damn... This is gonna be one of those stories the real media picks up, misunderstands, and uses to attack Columbia.
@Already happened. @Damn…: http://jezebel.com/5968252/columbia-universitys-finals-night-tradition-isnt-so-female+friendly. And somehow, they made it about Barnard.
@Anonymous @Already happened.: *about how the band’s insulting Barnard. Please do your research, they make fun of every school and Barnard wasn’t the point of the flyer.
@Anonymous Just happened. http://jezebel.com/5968252/columbia-universitys-finals-night-tradition-isnt-so-female+friendly
@GS 13 I love to see the diversity of cultures here at Columbia. However, can we just not relate anything to racist and sexist? I mean, raciest is some serious shit, so is some people’s creativity of realting things together.
@not funny Kev Sho was weak on this.
He needed to make sure orgo night was cancelled once and for all. No more of this nonsense.
@S @not funny:
Some people were offended by a band joke, so we should stop the band from making jokes every again?
That’s not how free speech works.
@Anonymous CUMB – almost as irrelevant as Jezebel.
@Anonymous I DON’T GET IT.
@H what is missing from this Orgo Night argument is the acknowledgement of how CUMB’s trademark genre of shock humor operates: on, and only on, the superficial level. objecting to a shock joke is akin to holding an attention-seeking child accountable for the actual content of his/her words. if you feel that’s appropriate, you are objecting to shock humor itself and probably should have censured CUMB as an organization apart from this one joke. or see Rocky Horror with a cast.
@Disillusioned Cornell Transfer This is absolutely absurd that an image and humorous line could fucking offend anybody.
I’m a Latino Jew with an Immigrant Mother, I couldn’t give a fuck less if you called me anything racist or anti-semtic.
And this is just fucking great. It has a hint of misogyny and racism, but who the fuck cares? Strippers exist, yes they do!
Orgo continue your rants, and may Kev$sho burn in Natzi hell.
@Anonymous oh shut up, IF there was ever a poster belittling/offending jews hillel would’ve been all over it…. and it would’ve been deemed unacceptable. but when it involves the Gaza/Palestine…. then its just a joke. The double standards is demeaning. And considering all the shit that just happened in Gaza, this should not even be posted. But why would you insensitive fools even care
@dude band makes fun of jews ALL THE TIME, and catholics, and protestants, and just about every other religious identity, ethnicity, gender, current political issue… and they DON’T get their panties in a twist about it.
@Disillusioned Cornell Transfer ********Anonymous Anti-zionist Alert.******** (siren)
Sure, I’d be fucking offended!!! My people have finally had freedom religiously and socially for the last 50 years. 7 million of us died, bruh. So yeah I kind of want to protect the State of Israel.
And yes STRIPPERS exists. GAZAN STRIPPERS surely exist in NYC. And they’re proud of what they do…
********Hamas attacked us first******** (siren)
@Lana Ora I’m not offended by the CU marching band for being sexist or racist, I’m offended because they get attention without EVER HAVING BEEN FUNNY. you couldn’t find a less humorous group of kids at Columbia if you tried. and that’s saying something.
@Jess Some people find the band funny. You’re completely welcome to your opinion, however, and don’t have to attend Orgo Night if you don’t find it entertaining.
@Alum Great pun.
@The Filthiest Bandie Alive Okay so what happened is this:
Every year for Orgo Night we make a series of posters that have to do with events that happened over the last semester. This year Gaza happened, so we made what is in my opinion a relatively tame pun. “Gaza Strip” has the word “strip” in it. That’s the whole joke.
A woman named Sherry J. Wolf who I honestly would probably agree with on most issues somehow found this poster and assumed that we were a group of ivy league frat kids or something like that throwing a Gaza themed party. I agree that this would have been disgusting.
Then about a hundred or so people sent in emails without having done any research whatsoever.
I usually hate it when people accuse others of “just not getting it”. This tends to be a really insincere and asshole-ish way of ignoring legitimate concerns. I do not, however, feel that most of the people who emailed multicultural affairs really knew what they were talking about.
Whats happening in Gaza is deplorable. In my opinion, the state of Israel has committed about a thousand human rights violations. Maybe we should have known better than to make a poster about it. However, I don’t feel that the poster makes any commentary on what happened in Gaza whatsoever.
Thats my two cents
@A. For the record, a lot of Columbia students were hurt by the flyer, and did bring it up with the OMA – so it’s not solely a critique from the outside. There’s a large contingent of people who do go here, and do know what orgo night is, who are still hurt.
@Lana Ora @A.: if you guys just stopped trying to be funny shit like this wouldnt happen. its not that you are offensive or cruel, youre just not good at being funny….
@Anonymous @ A.
Your concern is completely valid, and I agree that those people have the right to an apology.
@The Filthiest Bandie Alive @A.: @A.:
Fair enough, I think its obviously too sensitive and current of an issue to make this sort of joke about. I don’t, however, feel that the poster was intended as anything worse that a silly pun. The idea that we were somehow trying to make Gaza seem “sexy” is more than a little far-fetched in my opinion.
@Anonymous That doesn’t justify censorship!
@Anonymous By the way, the lady who began the email campaign to Shollenberger is a marxist activist from Brooklyn. It’s a shame he values some kook’s opinion over our natural rights. Her name is Sherry J. Wolf. Please go to her facebook page and unload on her. It’s open to all. Remember that name again is Sherry J. Wolf.
@"Unload on her?" Rape. Culture.
@Anonymous No, it’s not. Refers to taking a dump more than anything.
@Anonymous Lol you’re one classy motherfucker, aren’t you?
@Anonymous Hey she came in to our house and shat on us. THAT is unacceptable. She picked a fight, so let’s show a little Columbia unity and take back our house.
@Fem Fat It was a bad pun, it obviously didn’t go over well with the students. IDGAF about the flyers, but when someone is offended by something I personally like to take the time to understand why. Something I don’t do is say “oh you’re offended by my joke, that’s not my problem” because it is MY joke and I don’t like making people uncomfortable, sad, or angry, but that’s just me – I take personal responsibility for my actions. Shock value is not everything. CUMB will certainly draw a crowd tonight as per usual, but they will also get repercussions like this. That’s how life works at CU. Everyone go study now.
@A. “Something I don’t do is say “oh you’re offended by my joke, that’s not my problem” because it is MY joke and I don’t like making people uncomfortable, sad, or angry, but that’s just me – I take personal responsibility for my actions”
thank you thank you thank you for being sane and empathetic
@Fem Fat Also (responding to myself) once outsiders got wind of this, Columbia had to do something visible. Columbia protects its reputation above all – hence the War on Fun. I’m gonna attempt to study and fail at it now.
@The Broadway Bomb Fem pls, that was an *amazing* pun, specifically because it was so painfully trite.
+1 on everything else, tho’.
@Anonymous If your family members and friends had died in the Gaza conflict you wouldn’t be laughing.
@Nu? My family died in the holocaust. I make holocaust jokes all the time.
@Anonymous You weren’t alive then. It’s not the same kind of scarring pain.
Jokes about conflict and genocide are only funny to those who haven’t experienced them firsthand.
@Anonymous I doubt that any holocaust survivors you may have in your family would make such jokes.
@Anonymous Clearly you’ve never met an old Jewish comedian. My grandfather is one. He was at Auschwitz. Get over yourself. You can respect the history without having to shove a stick up your butt.
@BPT I agree, I just think that there’s a big difference between your grandfather saying that and you co-opting his ability to make jokes as some sort of justification of your beliefs. You may feel different if a close friend or relative of yours had been seriously injured or killed, or your home destroyed, or a family members home… last month.
I think the reason this was upsetting so some people is because the Gaza issue is a polarizing one. Middle Eastern students on this campus have very little support that isn’t self-generated; there is no campus sanctioned Hillel organizing space for them to protest.
That being said, this all seems a little excessive.
@springtime for hitler @Anonymous:
You haven’t heard of Mel Brooks, have you?
@GS '13 Well this just went from Islamabad to Islamaworse.
@Anonymous This would have been a better flier for the pro/anti Israel protests than for Orgo Night
@Anonymous When something is so fucked up, sometimes you just have to be able to laugh, not go around wallow in its misery. Sure you make light of (not the same as make fun of) a terrible situation but it’s exactly that, finding light somewhere in the damned darkness of it all, even if it’s just a freaking pun. People, please understand that when the band crafted this joke, they intended for people to see it and say “oh, Gaza strip, stripper, lust, I get it, lolz”. The severity of the situation and people’s inevitable sensitivity to it was not lost on the members of the band, it’s just run-of-the-mill dark humour.
@Hey Shollenberger Shut the fuck up.
@SEAS '15 I’m really f*cking annoyed that I got emailed about such trivial bullshit. Not to say my time is incredibly limited or important, but seriously? A campus wide email to shame a well known student group for making a pun?
@MAKE MORE MEMES: http://memegenerator.net/ksho http://memegenerator.net/instance/31840668
@Go Home KevSho You’re Drunk.
@A. The above was in response to Devin.
@seriously guys So holocaust jokes and slavery jokes are funny? I don’t think so
Sometimes people in this school are so terribly disappointing. They stand up for the respect of some groups, but certainly not all.
@The Venerable Monsieur Butthurt http://cdn.memegenerator.net/instances/250×250/31692992.jpg
@Anonymous Good point. They should make a new flier and cram as many swastikas and pics of hitler as possible on there.
@A. Given the history of the band and its propensity to make extremely sexist jokes – and given their response flyer- I feel like that may be too charitable an interpretation.
I wish they were satirizing the sexualized and sexist discourse. I just think that they’re buying into it instead.
@A band member Or we were just drunk when we made the posters.
@A. that doesn’t give you a free pass for being offensive/callous/insensitive.
@A band member Oh, that wasn’t an excuse. #shameless
@A. I’m not really sure whether I find it worse that you made a sexist/callous/insensitive poster knowing how shitty it was.
@Anonymous I can’t believe Shollenger didn’t realize that the flier is objectivifying Black women as commodities that can be possessed and traded. He should get Jesse jackson and Al Sharpton in on this.
@The catbreading poster was more offensive than this. As a non-cat owner with a gluten allergy, I was horrified and dismayed by that image and by the Marching Band itself and pledge my support to catbreaders worldwide. For shame, band, for shame.
@Anonymous If anything is offensive here, it’s how unfunny the poster and the band in general are.
@Anonymous Hmm, no Gaza Strippers allowed…Ke$ho, is this a War on Pun?
@Anon We should all call for Shollenberger to resign! This is him giving into bullshit pressure from the outside and making student life on campus 100x worse. Its time to get someone in the administration who cares about the students unlike Shollenberger. Think on your sins!
@Anonymous Skyfall reference?
@political correctness... I agree, Shollenberger should have stood up for his students’ rights rather than give in to external pressure. Nobody was advocating violence or hate, as Columbia student know better than to do so. If anything, this was just a snarky comment to allow students who follow world events to satisfy their wit. Yes, what was said may have been insensitive to some, but the world is full of people who intend to offend. You can’t break down at the first instance someone hurts your feelings. You also become incredibly presumptuous and belittling when you automatically assume such this poster is representative of the entire school’s views and that the students here are unaware of the situation going on in the middle east. So complainers, get off your high horse and realize the world will never be the world you want it to be. In fact, complaining only leads to suppression and censorship. Will it actually do anything to spur discussion and advocate your cause?
I wouldn’t be surprised if there are students here who have done more to advocate the Palestinian and LGBT cause than Sherry ( our lovely complainer as seen here https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10151180708578589&set=a.48390483588.62699.565468588&type=1&comment_id=7949342&offset=50&total_comments=60) herself. Sherry, you might think it is sick that some students joked about use of “strip” to describe the small region of land housing much of the Palestinian population. What’s next, complaining to the Oxford Dictionary? Shakespeare? Well I think it is sick you are choosing to force your views onto us, preventing us to think freely and develop our own opinions on such matters.
@Anon Dramatic much? No one is “stifling free speech.” that’s how freedom of speech works actually — you say offensive shit, other people call you out on it. Works both ways, see? The band wasn’t coerced into giving an apology or taking down the posters. Student groups brought it to the attention of the administrators and requested to speak with the band. The band was obviously convinced that would be better to take it down, and no one would have been forced to do shit. Get over it.
@Orwell Free speech means that you can’t tell people that they can’t say something because you find it offensive. Yell at them, call them racists or sexists or assholes, but don’t censor them. This isn’t 1984.
@Orli the poster was not offensive.
this clip from curb your enthusiasm is offensive. and hilarious.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mmui1Jo-FaE
@GS '13 Honest question: how does this poster “alienate” portions of the student body? How does this poster “hurt and belittle” anyone at all? There are no references to Muslims or terrorism or specific people groups or blah blah. The poster acknowledges the conflict in the region, but no sides were taken.
If I were to stretch my brain a bit, I guess people could be offended over everyone wanting a piece of DAT ASS.
@Poster https://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash4/430847_10151180708578589_691583111_n.jpg
@JP “Announcing ‘I’m offended’ is basically telling the world you can’t control your own emotions, so everyone else should do it for you.”
@Anon Fucking please. We’re all offended by something at some point. Even if this didn’t offend you, something else does. You are not a special snowflake.
@Anonymous That doesn’t mean you get to dictate what other people can say!
@Will.I.Am I blame the feminazis!
@political correctness... gotta offend them all!
@!!! Pokémon!
@Shollenberger What exactly does he do? From what I can tell, he gets upset, sends annoying emails, creates secret committees, and takes away traditional college institutions and replaces them with multicultural bullshit.
Why does Columbia need someone like this? How does this enhance our academic lives? Does silencing humor and promoting multiculturalism and everybody wins mentalities really prepare us for the real world?
@The Venerable Monsieur Butthurt In the real world, people have no idea what double-entendres are, seriously check your privilege.
@Devin Was I the only one who thought that it more satired those who want to divide and conquer Gaza than trivialize the Gazans themselves?
@no you weren’t…I had the same thought. This sort of sexualized discourse has actually been used on both sides in the conflict, talking about the land as a woman who is either being violated or cherished as a bride.
@Anonymous That’s ridiculous, no one does that. Imagine if Columbia put a comedy in which a major geopolitical conflict is trivialized by reducing it to a sexualized female figure in one of the core classes.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lysistrata
@lol this is so loose butthole.
@the diana this article neglects to bring up the vital point that idgaf about orgo night
@The Honourably Based FILGB Can we all lighten up sometimes pls?
@anonymous this was neither offensive to women nor palestinians
why are we talking about this
@This is why we are talking about this https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10151180708578589&set=a.48390483588.62699.565468588&type=1&comment_id=7949342&offset=50&total_comments=60
@CC 15 @This is why we are talking about this:
… She doesn’t even go here.
No, really, who the fuck is that?
@Dude This is some random lady who thinks Orgo Night is a party for pre-meds. Also, she thinks the band should be “academically punished?” Wut.
@Dudeee I wishhhhh
@Seriously... @This is why we are talking about this:
Some guy in the comments section equated CUMB to the Westboro Baptist Church. wtf.
@response? lets all respond to her and teach her what this is actually about….? pisses me off when people get all butthurt and involved about things they don’t know jackshit about.
@Just sent this to @KShoAtColumbia I’m extremely disappointed by the heavy-handed email you and the administration just sent to the student body. I’m not a member of the marching band, and am no part of the conflict, but this matter did not require public shaming. Offense does not always call for admin oversight, and in a case this ambiguous, public shaming = admin overreach. Free speech can be stifled “softly” as much as through legal action, which the administration knows would be groundless. Have faith in the discernment of the student body, and consider before emailing next time something like this occurs.
@Anonymous I’m also very upset by KSho’s response. If we could get an overwhelming number of people to email him like this, perhaps we could make sure that it never happens again.
@Anonymous We should form the Columbia Coalition for Free Speech, and stand outside Ke$ho’s office and loudly tell offensive jokes all day.
@Anonymous I think there’s definitely a place for political correctness, but blowing things like this out of proportion makes the whole concept of political correctness seem ridiculous, which is completely counterproductive
@QQ Seriously guys, I know its tough, but have some goddamn fun at least sometimes. Don’t get ur panties all up in a bunch over some offensive orgo night joke. They’re all offensive, that’s the point.
@Anonymous This is probably the best thing the band could have asked for.
@Anonymous How do you mean?
@Anonymous Those that will now check out Orgo Night because of this will vastly outnumber the few others who will boycott it in a storm of butthurt.
@Anonymous @Anonymous:
there’s no such thing as bad publicity!
@Anonymous Did Band members really “agree” to remove the fliers? Or were they pressured to remove the fliers? If not, do university administrators have the right to pressure students to remove their fliers? (It is okay to only send out an email to denounce the fliers.) We need an official statement from the Band.
@P Actually, RAs on duty were told to remove the fliers on their rounds.
@Anonymous then I wonder if that is even constitutional.
@SS I dont think people actually get what’s so offensive about the poster.
The Gaza Strip is and has recently become a very very serious issue. I’m sure you are all aware of the recent deaths and call for cease-fire. To turn such a topic like this into some sexualized promo is belittling to the issue.
There is a difference between being funny and being insensitive; and this poster is the latter.
I mean honestly people let’s be smart. There have been so many protests in front of low this year regarding the topic, do you honestly think this was going to go well?
common sense.
@Anonymous How can you possibly think you’re the only one who knows what is going on in Gaza? Most Columbians are educated enough to know it’s a very very very serious issue, and that’s why the use of satire is actually fairly funny in this instance. Serious stuff is ripe material for comedy and humor.
@Kim Il-Sung Meanwhile, in North Korea, there are actual gulags set up where people are summarily executed if they fail to follow directions. These are not criminals: many simply tried to escape that hell hole. Some of these prisoners did not even do that, but their only crime was to be related to someone who did. Yet the joke about Kim Jong-un did not even rustle a feather. Strange.
@Wow Take a joke. In fact, I think commenting as “SS” is a tad insensitive. Shame on you.
@Monsieur Butthurt You’re right. The issues relating to the Gaza strip are serious and deserve grace and thought when discussing them. However, not sure if you noticed, this poster made literally NO comment on the actual Gaza strip. It was a PUN.
“Common sense”
@Alum I think that humor is viewed differently by different people. I, for example, tend to joke about the most serious aspects of life. This allows me and the people around me to not only acknowledge that the issue exists, but also to allow for laughter. Humor is one of the basic forms of human connection. Anything can be funny. Topics themselves are not funny. What makes a particular moment, thought, or joke funny to me is the unexpectedness and a bit of truth.
People are complex and capable of multiple thoughts. Why does laughing at this poster, or creating it, mean that someone can’t also take the issue seriously. This poster was not brought into a debate or used in protest. Contextually, I think it is clear that is was meant to inspire a chuckle and a few seconds of attention
I personally am not offended by the poster, or the response. However, I am offended by those who judge members of the band or other students for not being offended by a piece of paper.
@Anonymous What did the posters even say? I expect the whole thing was blown out of proportion.
@Voila http://imgur.com/WwoUB
@Anonymous What about the other Orgo night poster? I mean, that is really offensive to the dictatorial leadership in North Korea. They deserve an apology too!
@You've been banned from r/Pyongyang.
@Shut the fuck up KSho This is why everyone is so miserable at Columbia: a stifling, stuffy environment of absolute political correctness — no one can take a joke. This is why you should be fired, KSho. You send us like 4 emails a semester and this is one of them? Thanks for wasting the space in my inbox — I hope the band makes fun of you tonight at Orgo Night.
@Anonymous Maybe if we send enough angry emails then we can get KSho to email Columbia and apologize for his own “poor judgement and poor taste” in wasting our time with this idiocy.
@Anonymous Actually I think everyone at Columbia is miserable because THEY ARE DEACTIVATING OUR KEYS DURING FINALS
@Anonymous Can someone please explain to me what was offensive about this? Not being snarky, but when I saw the poster it never occurred to me that it would cause such a shitstorm…
@Anon This is even more of a bullshit act then banning the band from the football game last year
@Karim Most folks have a sense of humor. But the ones who don’t tend to scream amid the quiet of everyone else who doesn’t give a shit, so they’re the ones who get heard. You can’t expect we’ll now get an e-mail from every other person who saw the flier saying, “Ha. Saw the joke. Funny, guys.” But I bet that’s what most people thought.
@amen the same group of people that ironically scream their offensive slogans and chants from low plaza with punishment
@oops without* punishment
@Anonymous are there any photos of the poster?
@Charlie http://spectrum.columbiaspectator.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/photo1-170×226.jpg
@Robert is there a marching band?
@SS @Anonymous: You sir, know nothing about comedy
@Commenting as “SS?”
@Anonymous *eye roll*
@Anonymous No wonder Columbia has very little to offer in terms of humor and levity when a joke that is so mild I can imagine it appearing on the Colbert Report, or some other satirical media source, is being actively censured by the administration. How embarrassing for students and administrators alike.
I can’t wait to hear a bunch of mild jokes that don’t offend anyone on Orgo Night.
@The funny thing is @Anonymous: …that pun has been on Colbert. And Leno. And Letterman. And Stewart. And How I Met Your Mother. Not the first time it’s been made at all.
@Don't worry Orgo Night will be more offensive than this.
@Ugh Columbia lighten up
@SJP Wow, talk about a lack of a sense of humor.
@cumb come to orgo night
@Anonymous Someone’s jimmies are really rustled
@! Go Ke$ho
@Give me TWO PIECES
@Piggybacking, but @Give me:
If we send emails to his columbia email, would that be seen an acceptable form of protest/displaying student dissatisfaction with the message and its contents?