This poem is from the 1903 Wallulah and describes the east doorstep of the “University Building,” now Waller Hall.

I saw a hole in the old doorstep,

And I thought “What made it there?”

And ever since I’ve wondered - 

Caught full in a question’s snare.

Through lapse of half a century, 

Yes, fifty years and more,

The feet of men have ground upon

That stepstone in the door.

To some it’s been a stepping stone;

A stumbling block, no doubt,

To those whose walk was void of life,

Who’ve shambled in and out.

That stone has felt the tread of men - 

True, noble-minded men - 

Whose feeble step, now slow with age, 

Spoke resolution then.

The door ‘neath which the hole is worn

Has turned out men of might,

Who’ve made an enemy of wrong

And grimly stuck to right.

Youth’s idle thoughts have shown some in;

Once in they’ve looked about.

And, having seen what life is for, 

Dame Wisdom showed them out.

O stone! where are those trampling feet?

To us your story give, 

That we may see how others walked

And by their footprints learn to live.

- Bert Bye Geer, 1903

And 109 years later the step remains worn down. 

Woah. Willamette had an Japanese graduate, Kivohide Nakaki, in 1905. He graduated from the College of Medicine.

And Elizabeth Will, one of many female graduates who studied at the College of Music, said that same year,

“Though I am small,

I’ll soon be wise

For success comes

To her who tries.”

Fascinating, right? I love my job.

James Baldwin (via funkyfest)

this is why people of color,or any marginalized group of people,raising consciousness scares the shit out of the privileged. 

(via brazenbitch)

or any number of other pronouns.

(via oppressionisyucky)

(via emmettforever)

Is a distraction. Frankly, and there’s a ton of people out there who disagree, they say, “But we want to get married” and “We have the right to” and I understand their desire to get married and support their rights to it. However, I do like that so many privileges are coded within the system of marriage - and the campaign for same-sex marriage does not address any of these privileges in the way that a civil rights issue should. I think everyone should legally be permitted to enter a marital relationship through their preferred church, but I do not believe that there should be legal ramifications and effects based on that marriage. 

The thing is that same-sex marriage still doesn’t spread the rights very well - for example, single mothers, who usually have a greater need for the tax benefits available to married couples of whatever arrangement, cannot necessarily reap the tax benefits of marriage. Additionally, few people within the gay liberationist movement (which is my way of thinking about same-sex marriage, not as a queer but specifically gay liberationist issue) address the ways in which same-sex marriage will or will not be available to trans and genderqueer people. Finally, why should we want solidify queer relationships into monogamous structures when so many queers participate in happy and equitable polyamourous and/or (sex-positive) slutty behaviors? 

In addition to leaving people out of the picture and not addressing the root issue, that is, that marriage should be secularized away from the government, I think it’s terrible that so many resources have gone into this “safe” campaign when queer teens continue to make up a huge percentage of homeless youth, bullying remains a serious problem in schools, and only the Trevor Project notably works to prevent queer teen suicide? Also, where are the nation-wide campaigns for trans rights? And why aren’t we more heavily involved in fighting for sex-positive health education? 

Thank you, Obama, for showing your support for the queer community. I really do appreciate the political implications of your support. I won’t place the blame on your shoulders because you are responding to the needs stated by huge and misguided organizations like the HRC. So, then, queers - lets take this movement back and make it queer again.

the89thkey:

enteekaygee:

barackobama:

Holler for 26 straight months of job growth.

why do they have to be “STRAIGHT” months?

campaign for 26 gay months of job growth 2k12!

barackqueerbama

finish my undergraduate thesis? Or am I too sleep-deprived to tell? Tune in tomorrow morning for the happy/frantically-editing news!

emmettforever:

latenightadultery:

i really want a shirt that says this though ..

NATHAN THIS IS YOUR LIFE!!!

hehehe