Students at Rutgers University and many involved with the new group, Queering the Air, a “queer-centric social justice organization,” have called for an Oct. 28, 2010, march and rally in response to the tragic September suicide of Rutgers student Tyler Clementi.

In an Oct. 19, 2010, release, Queering the Air states:

Under the banner of Justice Not Vengeance, Queering the Air will march and rally on Wednesday, October 28, 2010. This action will decry the rush to judgment of Ravi and Wei, the racist and xenophobic vitriol used against them, and raise larger issues about homophobia, transphobia, and lack of safety on campus.

Campus Pride lends its support and encouragement to Queering the Air. We join them in condemning unwarranted, racist and xenophobic attacks on Ravi and Wei, and wish the march and rally success in bringing awareness to Rutgers University administration’s inaction to create safer and more inclusive learning and living environments on its campus.

However, awareness and public discussion alone will not create safer campus climates for LGBT students. Campus Pride believes administrations at institutions of higher education must take concrete policy actions and ensure enforcement of those policies through comprehensive and inclusive practices in order for campuses to become truly safer for LGBT students, faculty and staff.

In addition to requests by Campus Pride and students for concrete policy and practice changes by Rutgers University administration, Campus Pride also reiterates our previous call for the expulsion of Dharun Ravi and Molly Wei, in accordance with university policies on student disciplinary matters.

“No campus is immune to what happened at Rutgers, but what is concerning is the inaction by university administrators to deal with the climate issues being presented by LGBT students both now and prior to the incident,” says Shane Windmeyer, Campus Pride executive director and founder. “Campus Pride believes students who are LGBT should be heard and the intervention should be multifaceted in addressing real issues of campus safety and inclusion. The expulsion of Ravi and Wei is only a small part of a much larger issue, and university administrators’ lack of an expedient response communicates a complacency and silence that must not prevail.”

Windmeyer adds, “The lack of response – other than President Richard McCormick’s statement that ‘we did all we could’ – is not enough. Justice includes enforcing already existing campus policies and student codes of conduct and taking action to prevent future incidents. Suicide among gay youth has always happened, and in the light of current national attention to the issue Campus Pride believes saying 'it gets better' only goes so far. We need to ensure that it gets better by taking immediate, concrete action. LGBT people don’t commit suicide because they are gay; they commit suicide because of the inhumane, discriminatory and harassing treatment they receive from others. This bias, discrimination and prejudice is allowed to persist on university campuses when administrators and staff refuse to take principled stands, accompanied by policy and practice changes, and hold responsible students accountable to student codes of conduct and other disciplinary policies.”