Dear Editor,
Last week, I happened to have three unpleasant encounters with our president, Dr. Jo Ann Gora. The first meeting was during a little get-together she was hosting for the presidents of every student group on campus. My faculty adviser wanted me to meet Jo Ann and show her my tattoos, some of which are David Letterman related. Before I even showed her my tattoos, she was already condescending toward me (because I was dressed like a student instead of a businessman), and once she saw my tattoos, she was horrified. "Why did you do that? Your body is a temple," she exclaimed. I just laughed it off since I've heard that one many a time, from family, clergy, and now, university administration. The next day, I was delivering the mail to the president's office (by the way, I'm a mail carrier, too), and Jo Ann happened to be in the office when I walked in. She looked directly at me for a solid five seconds before turning her back on me without saying a word. Ok, I thought, either I didn't leave a lasting impression yesterday, or Jo Ann is just an elitist that's too good to acknowledge my existence. Either way, no problem. I shrugged it off, quickly forgetting about it. The next day, however, Jo Ann did remember me. I got off the elevator in the AD Building to see Jo Ann chewing out some guy over an ad campaign. Man, she's kind of mean, I thought. And just then she looked at me, "Oh, here's my Letterman fan." Here it comes, I thought, I get to explain my tattoos... again. Jo Ann continued, "Look at this fool's leg. Look what this fool did." Wait a second, I thought. Did the president of the university just call me a fool... twice? "Fool?" I replied, "I don't know what the hell you're talking about. These are beautiful pieces of art." I then walked away from her, seething with anger. I think it's somewhat hypocritical of Jo Ann, a woman who wants to replace HIST 150 with a diversity class, to call someone a fool because he has tattoos. I'm an honors student with plans for graduate school, and I work my ass off at this school. I really don't appreciate being called a fool for what I decide to have etched into my skin. Calling someone out for having tattoos is akin to saying, "Look at that Jew," or, "Look at that queer." And of course, I could go on for another couple paragraphs about how I think expensive manicures are foolish and pretentious, but I was taught that if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all; something our president obviously wasn't taught.
Ryan Carney
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