Off The Record

By Kelsey Gustafson

At 1:30 a.m. on Sept. 12, five students made their way to the grassy area between Guild Hall and Benet Hall. Their actions at that time are considered by both campus authorities and other students to be vandalism, but were meant by the group itself to send a positive political message.

Sophomore Chris Morgan, along with sophomore Casey Wojtalowizc, senior Drew Madson, sophomore Martha Kaempffer and sophomore Gabe Hymer, rearranged the small American flags that had been placed by Students Fostering Conservative Thought (SFCT) as a remembrance of Sept. 11. By the time these students left, the flags spelled out “LOVE!” The group also placed a message next to the flags, which read “We do this in love. We are no thieves. Yesterday was for remembering. Today and tomorrow are for living and acting in LOVE! There is hope!” By 7:30 a.m., the flags and sign had been removed.

Morgan said he came up with the idea to move the flags while on his way to Mass that Thursday night (Sept. 11). He and the others met up later that night to discuss their plan and to create a diagram for their new setup. Chase Kroll, president of SFCT, reports that the club has been aware of the act since 5:00 a.m. Sept. 12.

“This dolt (Morgan) was so intellectually moribund that he could create nothing on his own. He resorted to vandalism. That is sad. Almost as sad as Chris Morgan being a 9-11 conspiracy theorist,” Kroll said in an e-mail.

Morgan’s group stresses that they did not move the flags during the 24 hour period SFCT had meant for them to be displayed.

“9/11 was for remembering. We do need to remember that. But the day after that, and every day in the future, we need to act in love. We need to go forward in love,” Morgan said.

Life Safety has labelled the act as one of vandalism. Morgan disagrees with the use of this word, but says he understands why it was applied. Kroll also considers the act to be vandalism and believes that the word “rearrangement” is too soft a term.

“Such phraseology tacitly implies permission and connotes non-criminality. This implication is misleading and irresponsible,” Kroll said in an email.

Morgan has defended his actions to Life Safety. He hopes that students will see the intended message behind the “vandalism.”

“There is hope. We shouldn’t take the time after (the Sept. 11 attacks) as a time of despair, being scared. There’s hope for love, there’s hope for good to come in the future,” Morgan said.

Kroll believes that the act itself should not be overlooked, and that Morgan’s divulgence of his involvement leaves him vulnerable to legal action.

“Chris Morgan’s asininity is aggressively, and embarrassingly illogical. He should spend less time vandalizing and conspiracy theorizing, and more time in his ‘peace studies,’” Kroll said.