Residence Hall Association canceled an event that would bring a camel to campus after controversy and a near protest.
Students would have been able to pet and take pictures with the camel in honor of “hump day” next Wednesday, May 14.
Director of Residence Life Aaron Macke said the idea for the program came from the members of RHA, and said the organization didn’t think the event would receive the negative feedback it did.
“We had done a program in December where we brought a reindeer to campus for the holiday time, and we did pictures and everything like that,” Macke said. “We had over 300 students attend—and I think that may have inspired the idea. You know, we have petting zoos that come to campus—we have therapy pets that come to campus around finals time for stress relief.”
Several students created a group on Facebook called “Protest Hump DAAAAAAY!” in response to the event. The group had more than 100 RSVP’d attendees before it was deleted on Wednesday.
Students cited several reasons for starting the protest page on Facebook, saying that bringing a camel to campus would be disrespectful to the animal, and that the event was a waste of the university’s funds and resources.
“There was also a claim that bringing the camel on campus was encouraging orientalism,” senior Ryan Nolan said. “I respectfully disagree. A camel does not ‘degrade or simplify’ our view of Middle Eastern culture. That would be like saying that turkeys simplify people’s view of America. People wanted to see the camel because it looks cool and because of a pop-culture reference in no way relating to Middle Eastern culture.”
Students began commenting on the page in support of the protest, although several noted that the event’s organizers were hurt by the backlash.
“With the logic being used here then we should always stand back and quietly accept everything that is troublesome on this university because we do not want to hurt feelings or it isn’t important enough,” sophomore Ryan Burke said in a post on the page in support of the protest.
Freshman Elizabeth Ploch said she doesn’t think the event should have been controversial.
“I do not see a problem with a camel coming to campus,” Ploch said. “I would assume that it would have to do with people thinking it’s inhumane or thinking students would treat the camel poorly, but … I think we’re all mature enough to respect animals at this point in our lives.”
Senior Emily Kindelspire said she’s happy RHA chose to listen to the students who had an opinion about the event.
“The only thing I guess I can say about the event and it being cancelled is that I find it very frustrating that it takes something like a camel to get the student body engaged in something,” Kindelspire said. “Not that the camel isn’t a big issue … I just wish that we could translate this to other issues that are happening.”
Macke said he believes the camel was more controversial than the reindeer because of people’s unfamiliarity with it.
“The origins, history, people’s interactions with, comfort with, familiarity with—it’s just a lot less than a dog or a cat or a reindeer or a horse or a goat or a cow,” Macke said. “But a camel is kind of exotic kind of sounding and feeling, and it’s in movies and it’s associated with certain people and places and times, and my guess is that that was a trigger for some people.”
This story has been revised from an earlier version to include details about the planned protest.
“It’s in movies and it’s associated with certain people and places and times” – could someone please help me understand exactly what Mr. Macke is referring to?
Also, what was wrong with the camel? Were we concerned that the animal might be hurt in some way? I am genuinely asking.
Can someone clarify what the idea behind the protest was? Did students think it wasn’t fair to the camel? Were they worried that the camel would trample them? I’m a little confused…
One of the main concerns I saw cited on the protest page was that it would damage the efforts of St. Thomas to become carbon neutral. I completely disagree with that claim and if challenged on why I disagree I can provide statistics in a later post. This was not something that needed to be protested.
This is ridiculous. I think a Camel on Campus is Hilarious for Hump Day and anyone protesting it needs a life. When I was on campus we would have loved this event.
Dylan: carbon neutral? How so? Is it because the camel would, pardon my language, poop, and since the poop emits greenhouse gases it would hurt our efforts to become carbon neutral?
I am just asking.
Let’s refrain from disrespectful comments (eg, “get a life”). I think it’s healthy to have a discussion about this issue, and I saw some thoughtful comments from both camps. I don’t think it’s appropriate to dismiss the protest. In fact, the protest and response seem to reflect a cultural divide on campus. If the protest caught organizers by surprise, maybe they should seek input from a more diverse segment of the university for future activities. There must be events that could bring people together.
John: Again, the carbon argument is not my own but I think they said that it was related to the transportation.
I think the students are concerned that money is being spent on ridiculous things like bringing a camel to campus, while the cost of tuition and housing continues to rise.
The money aspect I understand. The carbon emissions related to transportation argument is valid, but I think the carbon impact of a truck with a camel is rather minimal, and could be applied to a 1000 other things.
I think the problem here is that there is a serious opportunity cost when the hot topic issue being debated about on campus is about a camel being brought in for “hump day.” Spending our resources as a community, intellectual or otherwise, on this fairly immaterial issue seems to be something of a waste. If nothing else I hope that this is something of an educational moment for a number of the students on campus.
I find it terribly unsettling that there is a quote by a white person in this story talking about how this event wasn’t racist. As a white person, I have absolutely NO experience with facing institutional and individual racism, and I find the quote to be a problem since it erases the voices of people like my Arab American friend who felt uncomfortable with the framing of this event and the potential for her culture to be mocked or simplified. NO ONE on this campus should be made to feel this way due to a campus-sponsored event. Here’s a good resource for more info on the incredibly important issue of Orientalism: http://youtu.be/fVC8EYd_Z_g
Also, I believe there’s a lot of confusion surrounding the reasons we felt the need to protest this event, and this story does nothing to clarify, so let me try quick: The protest was organized for a few simple reasons. We believed it be wrong that UST was going to monetarily support a company that exploits animals with no agency, keeping them in an environment that is vastly different than their natural habitat and making a profit off of using animals as props. There is also the INCREDIBLY IMPORTANT issue surrounding the way the this event had been framed. Having a “real” or “exotic” camel come to a predominantly white campus to be gawked at presents a problem. We felt it should be a protest because students should be able to visibly and vocally express their dissent or discomfort with happenings on campus. (: