I am responding to the article in the April 15 issue of The Tech by Anonymous, entitled “Punting sexual assault response.” On behalf of all the deans in Student Support Services (S3), I am very sorry that this student’s experience with our office was not a positive one. No one should ever have to experience sexual assault, but if you do, our goal is to do our best to help you get what you need from S3 or other resources on campus. When we make referrals to other offices, we are trying to get you connected to the right person as fast as possible. To be clear, students should absolutely have the choice to talk to their advisors and should also have the choice about whether to visit VPR (Violence Prevention and Response) or any other resource on campus. We are always striving to improve our services, and the reporting of Anonymous’ experience will be reviewed so we can take steps to improve how we communicate with students.

Did you know that at your graduation, you will be asked to pray to a god, whether you believe in one or not? Chances are that you didn’t, and that’s the peculiar thing about graduation — you don’t know anything about it until it’s over, and after that you’d be hard-pressed to care. Now, you may recognize there are bigger problems out there, and ask, “Who cares about some words?”

MIT has a long history of subversion. In previous decades, this grew out of the Institute’s intense pressure-cooker culture, where “IHTFP” was not simply a bit of affectionate ribbing, but a very real sentiment shared by many students. My uncle, who was an undergrad in the early 1970s, likens his arrival to MIT to being hired at a coal mine: “Here’s your shovel; get to work.” Hacking was a devious thrill, and in many cases, a small way for students to poke fun at their tormenter.