Late at night on Nov. 20, the monument signs at Greenhill School entrances on Spring Valley and Hornet Road were vandalized with the phrase “for gays” spray-painted beneath the school’s name.
The damage was discovered early the next morning as visitors and students arrived on campus for Grandparents and Special Friends Day.
In an email, Head of School Lee Hark notified Greenhill students and families of the incident.
“Our facilities team is already addressing the damage, and our security team is reviewing footage and working to identify the person responsible,” Hark wrote in the email.
Hark added that legal action would be fully pursued.
“We do not tolerate hatred, harassment or attempts to make any members of our community feel unwelcome,” Hark wrote.
The vandalism was temporarily covered while the investigation continued. After reviewing the footage, the school’s security staff determined an adult outside of the Greenhill community to be responsible for the damage, deeming it a random act of vandalism.
“Acts like this are hurtful and run directly counter to who we are,” Hark wrote. “Greenhill is, and will remain a school for everyone.”
Head of Upper School Trevor Worcester cited the vandalism as a “hurtful act” and expressed appreciation for all Greenhill students in an email addressed to Upper School students.
Sophomore Leo Blumenthal, an openly gay student, said the situation hasn’t had much personal impact.
“To be honest, I don’t think I’m too affected by it,” Blumenthal said. “Most queer people at Greenhill find it funny.”
Junior Geneva Smith-Kuzmich says at first, she felt a similar sense of amusement by the immaturity of the act.
“I would say initially I laughed upon learning we were vandalized with the words ‘for gays’. It seemed ridiculous to me that someone thought that was a good insult,” Smith-Kuzmich said. “It reminded me of something a middle schooler would say to his friends about someone who was remotely different, only negative if you are incredibly immature.”
However, Smith-Kuzmich said her reaction changed when she considered the intent behind the vandalism.
“The fact that someone would do that at all and try to make such a negative thing of our community which is notoriously accepting in a hostile world where being ‘for gays’ makes you laughable and not a valid institution makes me sad,” Smith-Kuzmich said.
Smith-Kuzmich says that the intent behind the vandalism is more hurtful than the vandalism itself, presenting concerns that branch beyond Greenhill.
“[The vandalizer] thinking that they could insult us makes me angry for the world, afraid that everyone isn’t accepting,” Smith-Kuzmich said. “I think going to Greenhill and living in a bubble has made me forget that being ‘for gays’ is seen as a bad thing.”
Blumenthal sees the incident through a different lens, directed towards the larger Greenhill community rather than the LGBTQ+ community specifically.
“I think it was more an attack on the school, especially since it was right before Grandparents and Special Friends day, than an attack on queer people in general,” said Blumenthal.
Looking ahead, Smith-Kuzmich says she hopes that Greenhill will stay strong in their belief that everybody belongs.
“The world truly needs a positive light and everybody needs to feel like they belong,” Smith-Kuzmich said. “If Greenhill is facing criticism for having these beliefs, it is only indicative that we should further double down on these facts.”
Hark says that this event has reinforced, not eroded, Greenhill’s commitment to being a safe and inclusive environment for every student.
“Our commitment to building an inclusive community is clear about our aspirations and expectations, and this incident only strengthens our resolve to live that commitment every day,” Hark wrote.
