The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution protects an American citizen’s right to speak freely; however, expressing an opinion in spray-paint on a university sidewalk is not a responsible or mature way to exercise this right.

According to the U.S. Department of Justice, hate crimes are defined as crimes that show evidence of prejudice based on race, religion, sexual orientation, physical and mental disabilities or ethnicity. Intimidating people with offensive graffiti because of their sexual orientation while vandalizing university sidewalks with messages of hate would be included in this definition.

Constructive dialogues and lively discussions are what a free press strives to facilitate in an academic community. Readers of the Daily opinion pages may not always agree with the views that are expressed in the newspaper, but I want to thank them for participating in a dynamic exchange of ideas online and in their letters to the editor.

Readers’ comments encourage me to look at the issues from a range of perspectives. I often rethink my positions on the issues after contemplating their feedback. Readers who sign their names, identify themselves and claim responsibility for their words earn my respect.

Using legitimate channels for self-expression and taking responsibility for free speech contrasts sharply with spray-painting “fag rag” outside Hamilton Hall with an arrow pointing to the location of The Iowa State Daily’s office.

The person who is responsible for this act, and other acts of hateful behavior on campus, decided not to leave a name or return address underneath his or her critique of the newspaper’s content. This anonymous critic mistakenly used free speech as an excuse for committing a hate crime. Sadly, legitimate channels of communication with the Daily were ignored.

The perpetrator of this crime touched many lives.

ISU employees had to clean up the mess that he or she made on the concrete. In the powerful heat of an Iowa summer, scrubbing spray-paint off concrete sidewalks with electric wire brushes is a painstaking job.

Students also suffered repercussions from this crime. Many ISU students work extremely hard to pay their tuition each semester. Don’t forget, it will be part of students’ tuition money that pays the salaries of the ISU employees who worked so diligently to clean up the hateful mess. The monetary damage of this crime could cost the university as much as $1,500. Wouldn’t that money be better spent on scholarships, computer upgrades or library books?

The Daily newspaper staff, gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender members of the community and the employees and volunteers at Sloss House were also affected by the criminal’s actions. Threatening and hostile words spray-painted in inappropriate places make people feel uncomfortable and unwelcome.

Hate crimes leave ugly physical and psychological scars on the American landscape and consciousness.

In 1998, Matthew Shepard, a Wyoming resident, was severely beaten, lashed to a fence post and left to die because he was openly gay. In that same year in Texas, James Byrd Jr. was sadistically chained by his ankles to a pick-up truck and dragged to his death down 3 miles of county road because he was black.

There is no place for hate crimes on the ISU campus. I urge every student at this university to do everything in his or her power to make this campus a welcoming and inclusive safe haven for all of its residents.

Martin Luther King said these words in 1963, but like so many of his words, they are still relevant today. “Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred. We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline… Again and again we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force.”

Let’s unite as a community to condemn this hate crime with the overwhelming muscle of soul force.