On Feb. 20, five students from Leading through Education, Activism and Diversity (LEAD) unveiled their project to the Stanford community. The photo exhibit, which will be in the Old Union lobby until Mar. 13, is entitled “How Much Will You Tolerate?” and focuses on the acts of intolerance that have occurred at Stanford in recent history.

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#gallery http://daily.stanford.edu/image/full/8657
Courtesy of Natalie Ricotta

A photo exhibit in Old Union depicts acts of intolerance at Stanford in recent years.

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#gallery http://daily.stanford.edu/image/full/8658
Courtesy of Natalie Ricotta

A photo exhibit in Old Union depicts acts of intolerance at Stanford in recent years.

LEAD is sponsored by four ethnic community centers: the Native American Cultural Center, the Asian American Activities Center, El Centro Chicano and the Black Community Services Center. Each year, LEAD selects students from these four communities to come together and devise social change projects.

The members of “How Much Will You Tolerate?” are Phillip Hon ‘10, Julian Kelly ‘10, Kimberly McKinson ‘10, Natalia Ricotta ‘10 and Diana Huynh ‘11.

The exhibit features four powerful pictures that are reenactments of acts of intolerance that happened in recent history right here on campus. One image depicts the Azia Kim incident and the backlash on Okada that followed in May 2007.

The other three recreate acts of vandalism — an attack on religion during Thanksgiving 2004, when a banner was slashed and replaced with the phrase “Satan wishes you a Happy Thanksgiving;” an attack on a student’s sexuality by writing the word “FAG” on a bathroom wall in Toyon in October 2004; and the writing of “Klu Klux Klan” in Arrillaga Sports Center last October.

Ricotta’s experience in Okada last year was the inspiration for the group’s project. After picking the easiest to depict and most recent acts of intolerance, the students decided to make their project a photo exhibit in order to bring these events to the forefront and to encourage more dialogue about these issues.

When asked about their goals, Huynh replied, that the project is in line with the rewriting of the University’s Acts of Intolerance protocol.

“Our goal is to make the process of reporting acts of intolerance more transparent and more effective,” she said. “We also hope to raise awareness and encourage people to speak out against acts of intolerance.”

Group members reflected on their experience completing the exhibit.

“I feel that this project was able to bring these acts of intolerance to light and gives the community a sense of understanding and connection towards this issue,” Hon said.

“It feels fantastic,” Ricotta added. “It’s really cool to see it set up. We’ve been working on it for so long, it’s great to see it actually accomplished.”

The group is already planning to develop this project on a larger scale in the future — the members have already contacted the Associated Students of Stanford University (ASSU) and Students Promoting Ethnic And Cultural Kinship (SPEACK) in an effort to continue these projects to bring more awareness about acts of intolerance.

Students have noticed the exhibit and experienced different reactions.

“I think it’s starting to do what should have been done many years ago,” said Charlie Wang ‘08.

“When I first saw it, I was furious, which was great, I was supposed to be angry,” said Takeo Rivera ‘08. “It elicited such a strong and thought-provoking response from me. We as students have responsibility to recognize and confront not just the acts of intolerance themselves but the cultural problematics that can incite them.”