# Rabois' comments on 'faggots' derided across University
## Slurs to cottage bring reaction 
### June Cohen Editorial staff 
The homophobic slurs hurled
by first-year law student Keith
Rabois toward the cottage of
Otero Resident Fellow Dennis
Matthies have come under fire in
dorm discussions and on Law
School bulletin boards, with
Rabois himself emerging as the
target of angry community mem
bers who say they are exercising
their own right to free speech.
The incident, which occurred
Jan. 19 but was disclosed late last
week, involved three students
who were walking through Otero
that Sunday night. After exiting
the dorm lounge, one of the stu
dents began screaming "Faggot!
Hope you die of AIDS!" and
"Can't wait 'til you die, faggot!"
in the direction of the RF cottage,
according to William Shepherd,
the head advising associate in
Otero and one of the witnesses to
the incident.
Shepherd, who later identified
two of the students, said he heard
one voice making the homophobic
remarks, but could not identify
whose voice it was. One of those
students named the third student
at the scene, according to Dean of
Students Michael Jackson.
Two of the students denied
making homophobic comments.
Rabois said one of them did not
make the remarks. On Tuesday,
that student, in turn, absolved the
other, but not Rabois.
Rabois, in an unpublished let
ter to The Daily, said he took a
shortcut through Otero that
night, and"I proceeded to make
comments similar to those report
ed in The Daily."
He said in an interview earlier
in the week that some of the com
ments were directed at Matthies,
but they "were mostly about fag
gots being bad in general."
In his letter, he wrote: "I truly
don't care nor think too much
about the issue (of homosexuali
ty). I don't necessarily hate homo
sexuals, but do believe in Jack
Kemp's suggestion that they may
not be the best teachers of young
children in public schools and rec
ognize that the spread of AIDS
has a direct causal link back to
their activity."
Rabois could not be brought up
on Fundamental Standard charges
by the University, because the
standard applies only to face-to
face discriminatory harassment
made by one student to another.

Matthies was not in his cottage at
the time of the incident.
Officials went public
Powerless to prosecute Rabois,
University officials released a
statement denouncing his actions
and presenting the incident as a
target for public condemnation.
Dean of Students Michael
Jackson said yesterday he decided
to write a public letter to the com
munity because "the incident was
already a very public event." Only
a few students had witnessed the
incident, however.
According to Jackson, "I wrote
the letter to point out that what
happened was mean and vicious
and needed strong condemnation
from someone in the University.
"There's a question of how we
should react as a community, and
whether we should always go to
the rulebook," Jackson said.
The decision to step outside the

judicial process
has received
praise from many
students.
"I think the
administration
did exactly the
right thing be
cause [the inci
dent] should be
discussed " said

wwvnwvii U lOWUOOLU, OMIU
Eleanor Feingold, coordinator of
the Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual
Community Center. "I think it
sparked meaningful discussion and
makes more people aware that
there are issues of homosexuality
on the Stanford campus."
And Residence Dean Angela
Rickford also welcomed the dis
cussion. "We've got to learn to
talk to each other without insult
ing each other, even if we hate
what each other stands for. That
is the essence of a vibrant univer
sity atmosphere."
"Rabois has said that he has first
amendment speech rights — now
others are saying 'so do we, and we
have the right to challenge what
you say,'" Jackson said. "In an
open and free society it's important,
useful and educational to express
yourself. I just wish we could keep
discussion on a higher plane."
Signed, sealed and delivered
A letter from Dean of Stu
dents Michael Jackson was deliv
ered to The Daily last Friday.
The letter, which contained no
names, condemned the actions of


Jackson
three students and did not distin
guish between Rabois, who has
admitted to making the com
ments, and the other students,
who denied it.
Jackson said he did not tell any
of the three that he would be
releasing the letter.
At the time the letter was writ
ten, Rabois had not admitted to
having made the remarks. He told
Rickford the week before that he
did not want to speak with her or
anyone in the administration, and

that he knew "exactly what's per
mitted at this school and exactly
what's not, and I haven't done
anything that's not permissible,"
according to Rickford.
Jackson defended his decision
to implicate all members of the
group, rather than just Rabois.
"Part of the problem is, when a
big thing like this happens, we
can't always get clear understand
ing of who said what, and what
they said and how they said it.
People will have different ver
sions of what happened.
"If one student was taking full
ownership for everything that
was said, I would amend my com
ments to say 'one student said

it,'" Jackson said. "But I'd also
like to clear up why they were
there in the first place and
whether it was preplanned.
"If it was (preplanned) — and
they all planned it — then they
were all party to the use of that
particular language as a way of
challenging the Fundamental
Standard," and should all be held
accountable for the comments,
Jackson said.
"But if it turns out that they
did not talk about this and it was
an extemporaneous outrage on
the part of Rabois, then I apolo
gize for using the word 'they."'
Jackson said he believes none
of the students objected to the

comments during the incident.
"My question to them is, 'Why
didn't you object to it?' I think
they bear the responsibility of not
having spoken up. Also, I have not
seen them disavow comments. All
they're saying is, 'I didn't say
that.'"
But one of the involved stu
dents said he quietly said, "Easy,
Rabois," when the trio was walk
ing away from Otero.
A 'marketplace' of ideas
Jackson said he "wasn't frus
trated" by the inability of the Uni
versity to press charges under the
Fundamental Standard because
he "believes the best way to deal

with these kind of issues is out in
the public, so people can debate
them.
"We should get things out there
in the marketplace of ideas, and
argue about them, in this case, in
a veiy passionate way," he said.
And the marketplace metaphor
was invoked more than once by
those engaged in campus discus
sion.
Christy Haubegger, a third-year
law student, said an "open market
for various kinds of protest by
which to express outrage" has
developed at the Law School,
where flyers denouncing both
Rabois himself and the homopho
bic slurs keep "going up and corn

ing down."
"People are talking about it
quite vocally," she said, adding
that an "interesting guerilla war
fare" has developed.
"Everyone is taking care not to
make him a First Amendment
martyr," she said. "But we do
want people to know we find the
comments really offensive. He has
held himself out as example of the
Law School, and we want to disso
ciate ourselves from that."
Earlier this week, Rabois said:
"I'm a first-year law student. I
know exactly what you can say
and what you can't."
Haubegger said some profes
sors have encouraged students to
alienate Rabois. Another student,
Allison Tucher, put together two
large posters displaying Rabois'
face, which read: "Just because
its legal, doesn't make it right."
The posters, which were created
Tuesday, have already collected
hundreds of signatures.
Hundreds of signatures also
adorn a petition — which began
circulating yesterday — that
expresses embarrassment at the
"expressions of hatred that were
inflicted on this campus on Jan.
19. We have been reminded that
ignorance can survive education
and escape formal repercus
sions."
A coalition of students, faculty,
staff and deans signed the cover
letter of the petition, which they
hope to run as an advertisement
in The Daily next week.
Students grapple with issues
Senior Lexy Smith, a resident
assistant in Otero, said: "There's
been a lot of good discussion in
the dorm about what should or
shouldn't be said and what people
are thinking about on the free

speech issue."
Smith said she does question
just how open the campus really
is for people who do not conform
to mainstream thought. "I think
there's definitely a certain way
that most people on this campus
think — I don't know how free
people really are. But I do think
most people are tolerant if ideas
are presented in the right way."
Smith said she is fairly conser
vative, but that "there's a distinc
tion between conservatism and
bigotry."
"I think this incident is confus
ing the issues," she said.
"I don't think this is an exam
ple of someone voicing out an
opinion and being shot down,"
said Smith, adding that the anti
gay remarks directed at Matthies'
cottage were merely destructive
and ignorant.
Senior Emily Simas, an RAin
Kimball Hall, said students in her
dorm expressed "mostly just
shock at the ignorance of the
statement, then dismay that"
Rabois was a Stanford law stu
dent.
Simas said she was undecided
on how she felt about the speech
code, and that she was torn
because "I would be. . .afraid of
restricting speech so students
think they can't bring up topics
that are contrary to the norm."