I am currently engaged in a one-girl attempt to expel all forms of Villanova propaganda from the walls of Stanford Hall on South campus.

I’m sure you are all aware of the propaganda I’m talking about – it exists in our bathroom stalls, our cute and colorful bulletin boards, the stairwells and even the lounges. The messages on these bright colorful dittos seem harmless enough, but once you think them through you realize that someone in this institution is trying to brainwash us. One of these flyers reads:

“Myth: The Catholic Church teaches that being a homosexual is a sin.

“Fact: The Catholic Church teaches that the expression of love through sex requires a commitment to living and sharing of two persons in marriage. Engaging in sex outside of marriage is a sin for both heterosexuals and homosexuals. It is important to note that the Catholic Church accepts and acknowledges homosexual persons.”

The first time I saw this one I nearly had a heart attack. Don’t get me wrong, I support equality for homosexuals, but the Catholic Church most certainly does not. This lie is asking us to accept that the Church accepts everybody, even gays. According to this “fact,” the Church has no problem with homosexuals unless they commit adultery against their lawfully wedded partner – those they are married to. Here’s my big problem – when was the last time the Catholic Church allowed a homosexual couple to be married with its sanction?

I just don’t understand why Villanova is lying to us about the Catholic Church. Is our school afraid to admit that as far as homosexuality is concerned, it has broken away from the traditional way of thinking? We wouldn’t be much of a modern university if we weren’t willing to accept all different types of people into our community.

I don’t understand the need to legitimize our acceptance of homosexuals by creating lies about how the Catholic Church feels towards them.

Another poster that caught my attention had to do with race:

“True or false: To encourage mixing among races, minority students should avoid sitting together at meals in the cafeteria, but should make an effort to sit with white students.

“Answer: While the notion of having minority students sit with white students is not a bad idea to encourage getting to know one and learn from each other, the same holds true for white students. The responsibility for getting to know one another should not be the sole responsibility of the minority student, but majority students as well.”

Isn’t that just peachy.

No wonder they call us Vanillanova. Apparently, the only way our student body will be “diverse” is if we post dittos in the bathroom instructing them on how to make friends with those of different ethnic backgrounds.

This just makes me sad. Villanova, have a little faith in your students. All anyone ever talks about on this campus is how great our student body is, so why are we writing kindergarten instructions on how to behave when eating meals? I think we all know that the responsibility of combating racism lies on both sides, but bright yellow dittos with borders of happy friendly people of all different colors are just underscoring the problem and insult all involved.

Whether or not you believe that what these flyers say is false, they are an insult to the intelligence of this student body. We are supposed to be receiving a liberal arts education, not an indoctrination of watered-down Christianity. I don’t want to be taught how to think or what to think, only to think on my own.

Thus I invite and beg you to join me in ignoring these ridiculous messages that pollute our residential environment. Tear down the signs. Trust me, it’s a great time.

And the fourth floor of Stanford is, I am proud to say, almost free of propaganda.