Urine found on LGBT books in Harvard library

This is odd. At Harvard's Lamont Library, campus police recently discovered that "approximately forty books dealing with LGBT issues were vandalized with what appeared to be urine."

This, of course, is not par for the seminar at Harvard, whose own newspaper admits that its "main connection to Red State America is its Crimson hue." So could this be a case of town-and-gown animosity?

Nobody knows yet. According to the campus newspaper,

[Harvard University Police Department] spokesman Steven G. Catalano wrote in an e-mail that the vandalized books' subject matters included lesbian and gay issues and same-sex marriage. Due to the nature of books, HUPD is currently investigating the incident as a bias crime.

"The HUPD has zero tolerance for any bias-related incidents or crimes," Catalano said.

"Harvard College will not tolerate acts of vandalism, especially those that appear to be motivated by hate or bias," Harvard College Dean Evelynn M. Hammonds wrote in an e-mail to The Crimson.

In a weird way, this seems more threatening and hurtful than burning books (which is still bad, of course), probably because it's much more personal. Either way, though, it's lame — and we'll let you know if they figure anything out.

Comments ( 13 )

At least he/she/they didn't take a dump in the stacks.

bearman33 commented on Dec 13 10 at 3:08 pm

Class act, Harvard.

JRB commented on Dec 13 10 at 3:14 pm

Well yeah!!..........thats what you learn in the ivy league..........ban gays, blacks, lesbians, transgenders, hispanics, jews(some of them), hilly-billies, low-incomers......etc, etc........jeje

BoykizzBoyz commented on Dec 13 10 at 3:28 pm

@boykizzboyz Harvard is actually one of the more progressive Ivy leagues. I went to Harvard and yes there is that element, but that's at all Universities not just Ivy leagues.

Erhen commented on Dec 13 10 at 3:40 pm

@BoykizzBoyz: we cannot generalize just because some bigot assholes' incontinence....
@Erhen: So what?.........because they are Ivy League they can pee on all of us??........

ExcuseMe!!! commented on Dec 13 10 at 3:54 pm

does this qualify as a hate crime as well?

https://www.collegian.psu.edu/archive/2008/04/02/news_in_brief_96.aspx

sarel101 commented on Dec 13 10 at 3:59 pm

It's pretty hard to burn the books when they're urine-soaked.
@sarel101: Looks to me like someone left a patty on East Pattee.

Twolane commented on Dec 13 10 at 4:10 pm

Some people at Harvard get pissed off over everything.

G Unit commented on Dec 13 10 at 4:59 pm

Update from the Dean of Harvard College:

The Harvard University Police Department (HUPD) and the College were notified this past Friday by Harvard College Library personnel that 36 books related to gay and lesbian studies were damaged in Lamont Library on November 24, 2010. This incident was initially reported as vandalism and characterized as a hate-crime because of the focused nature and related topics of the damaged books. HUPD has continued to investigate this incident since the initial report and we have learned this morning that the books, while indeed damaged, were damaged by our own library personnel accidentally spilling a bottle of what was reported to be urine that had been left on the shelf. I believe this is an important new fact in the investigation and warrants my sharing it with you immediately. While we should not minimize the seriousness of this incident, HUPD is no longer classifying this incident as a hate crime. This nuance in the facts in the case also explains why library personnel did not immediately report the incident and treated it instead as a prank. I am also pleased to report that the Harvard College Library intends to replace all 36 books as soon as possible.

Source: https://college.harvard.edu/icb/icb.do?keyword=k61161&pageid=icb.page2588...

Harvard Man commented on Dec 13 10 at 5:23 pm

Well, I'm certainly relieved - if you'll pardon the pun. Now who left the piss-bottle on the counter, and who tried to drink it thinking it was apple juice?

Twolane commented on Dec 13 10 at 6:10 pm

Instead of a hate crime, maybe it's a kink crime.

exivy commented on Dec 13 10 at 7:33 pm

Maybe someone really needed these books for research, didn't want anyone else to check them out, and was marking his/her territory?

Ree Search commented on Dec 14 10 at 12:50 am

And once again the take home lesson is, the simplest solution is probably the right one and media conjecture feeding social anxieties does not make for good journalism.

TwiddlerOnTheHoof commented on Dec 14 10 at 5:16 am

Urine found on LGBT books in Harvard library

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