Word: symbolic
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...Absence of Religion and Morality (AALARM) has plastered the campus with cardboard cut-outs of blue squares and posters promoting "traditional values." Despite AALARM's disingenuous protestations to the contrary, most students immediately figured out that blue squares are a reaction against pink triangles, a ubiquitous gay-activist symbol that means a lot of things to a lot of people...
Almost immediately, the storm of protest began. One officer of the Bisexual, Gay and Lesbian Students Association (BGLSA) equated the blue square with the Nazi swastika as a symbol of violence against gays. Considering the origins of the pink triangle symbol in the Nazi extermination camps, the obvious question is, "Why would AALARM do such a thing...
Soon, foot-tall pink triangles appeared in many Mather windows. Blue squares materialized in several others, and an ambiguous symbol was born...
AALARM interprets the blue square as a symbol of traditional family values, Christian morals and a traditional sense of community. Nowhere on the original press release issued by the association is homosexuality mentioned. Members say AALARM is "not anti-homosexual," but "pro-heterosexual," whatever that means...
While some students at Brandeis have called Alexander's departure a symbol of administrative neglect of minority concerns, Burg said that the university intended to find a replacement to fill the position quickly, despite a hiring freeze. "We do have a commitment," he said...