Undergraduate Men Receive Mysterious Mail

Many undergraduate men were surprised this week to receive a massmailed letter from an anonymous author, who apparently wanted to meet men who are attracted to other men but who share his distaste for homosexuality.

The author, who claims to be a recent graduate, wrote: "while I am attracted to guys, I am also repelled by gays, so far without exception."

According to the author, in his experience "[gay men are] markedly different from straight men, although to varying degrees...Even gays who consider themselves 'straight-acting' seem to me at best neuter."

Citing what he claimed were gay men's "greater vanity, cliquishness, pettiness, and [lack of] forcefulness or strength of character," the author asked any recipients with a "similar problem" to write to his Cambridge post-office box.

The letter was also mass-mailed to students at Yale about a month ago. The only difference was that the first line of the letter to Yale men mentioned that the author was sending his letter to "several colleges."

"It is either a sick, very sad cry for acknowledgement he'll probably never get, or a reprehensible defamation of all male homosexuals," said Joshua S. Bloom '96. "What better way to publicly voice one's homophobia than to dress up in sheep's clothing and say you hate all sheep?"

The letters, which were addressed to each student by name, and which listed their exact mail box numbers, were supposedly sent to all male undergraduates at Harvard.

Not all undergraduate men received the letter, but some men in every house as well as freshmen said they had received the mailing.

The author appears to have directed the mailing to students with malesounding first names. Some men with ambiguous first names said they did not receive the letter, while some women with male-sounding names said they did.

Reactions from students ranged from finding the mailing "really offensive" to considering it "innocuous."

Kevin C. Murphy '97 said that he merely found it "strange, that [the writer] would send it to everyone just in orderto find someone he could open up to. He shouldjust go to a coming-out meeting."

"I thought it was the most preposterous thingI'd ever seen," said Garance R. Franke-Ruta '96, awoman who received the letter." It was justpathetic."

Several students questioned the letter's islegitimacy.

"At first I thought it wasn't real letterbecause of the stereotyping [of gay men]," Murphysaid.

Other students said they wondered if themailing might be a bizarre psychology experiment.

"It was really offensive...I don't think he canexpect any serious response." said James A.Clayton '97.

Although the letters were individuallyaddressed to each student, with their name and boxnumbers, Crimson Editor Andrew K. Sachs '97 saidthat "enough people got it that it didn't seemlike an invasion of privacy."

Matthew L. Bruce '96 agreed.`` He compromisedhis own privacy a lot more than anyone else's. Theletter no more violated my privacy than any otherjunk mail that I get."

In response to the highly negative stereotypingof gay men, Matthew A. Stewart '98 said, "It'sjust like any other stereotype; some people fitit, but some don't. It seems like he's had limitedexposure to gay people, and if his only way ofidentifying them is by using these stereotypes,it's only natural that he'd find people who fitthem,"

"Homosexuals by no means have a monopoly onthese negative traits," said Bruce.

But others felt that the letter betrayed morethan a lack of knowledge.

By sending this mass-mailed letter, the authoris "generating and propagating stereotypes aboutthe gay community," according to Carsey Yee, theAdams House designated tutor for gay and lesbianissues.

Yee began a discussion on harvard. generalabout the letter because, as he said. "This is acommon experience that many young Harvard men havehad, and there isn't enough discussion about thesethings."

The one question that all the recipients wantedto answer was how the author managed to get theiraddresses.

"I'm curious as to whether he had access toHarvard databanks," Yee said. "After all, thelabels were all printed. And if this person workedin some office with access to these databanks, orif he were a hacker, it would be very easy tobreak into them."

Dean of Students Archie C. Epps III, who hadnot heard of the affair, was similarly concerned.

"My only concern is how he got hold of theaddresses," he said. "I would probably bring it tothe attention of the police. We do get quite a lotof strange mail, and I would prefer to have themevaluate it."

Most of those who received the letter said,whether it was a bizarre prank or a desperateappleal, they would chalk the episode up as astrange experience.

"People do a lot of crazy things in thepursuit, of love and happiness." Bruce noted

"I thought it was the most preposterous thingI'd ever seen," said Garance R. Franke-Ruta '96, awoman who received the letter." It was justpathetic."

Several students questioned the letter's islegitimacy.

"At first I thought it wasn't real letterbecause of the stereotyping [of gay men]," Murphysaid.

Other students said they wondered if themailing might be a bizarre psychology experiment.

"It was really offensive...I don't think he canexpect any serious response." said James A.Clayton '97.

Although the letters were individuallyaddressed to each student, with their name and boxnumbers, Crimson Editor Andrew K. Sachs '97 saidthat "enough people got it that it didn't seemlike an invasion of privacy."

Matthew L. Bruce '96 agreed.`` He compromisedhis own privacy a lot more than anyone else's. Theletter no more violated my privacy than any otherjunk mail that I get."

In response to the highly negative stereotypingof gay men, Matthew A. Stewart '98 said, "It'sjust like any other stereotype; some people fitit, but some don't. It seems like he's had limitedexposure to gay people, and if his only way ofidentifying them is by using these stereotypes,it's only natural that he'd find people who fitthem,"

"Homosexuals by no means have a monopoly onthese negative traits," said Bruce.

But others felt that the letter betrayed morethan a lack of knowledge.

By sending this mass-mailed letter, the authoris "generating and propagating stereotypes aboutthe gay community," according to Carsey Yee, theAdams House designated tutor for gay and lesbianissues.

Yee began a discussion on harvard. generalabout the letter because, as he said. "This is acommon experience that many young Harvard men havehad, and there isn't enough discussion about thesethings."

The one question that all the recipients wantedto answer was how the author managed to get theiraddresses.

"I'm curious as to whether he had access toHarvard databanks," Yee said. "After all, thelabels were all printed. And if this person workedin some office with access to these databanks, orif he were a hacker, it would be very easy tobreak into them."

Dean of Students Archie C. Epps III, who hadnot heard of the affair, was similarly concerned.

"My only concern is how he got hold of theaddresses," he said. "I would probably bring it tothe attention of the police. We do get quite a lotof strange mail, and I would prefer to have themevaluate it."

Most of those who received the letter said,whether it was a bizarre prank or a desperateappleal, they would chalk the episode up as astrange experience.

"People do a lot of crazy things in thepursuit, of love and happiness." Bruce noted