Last week, Augsburg College students held a “Rally 4 Respect” after one student and a friend were assaulted for being LGBT and a series of derogatory statements were posted around campus. The rally brought out about 250 students and other members of the Augsburg community to show that the campus values diversity and its LGBT students and staff.

On Tuesday, Director of Public Safety John Pack sent out a crime alert to campus residents about the assault. “On Sunday, September 26, 2010 at approximately 4:45am, two unidentified men assaulted a student and a friend of the student in the Residence North Park Lot… The unidentified men struck the student and friend in the face with their hands after making derogatory comments regarding the student’s perceived sexual orientation.”

Later that day, Augsburg president Paul Pribbenow sent out another alert. “Unfortunately, in addition to the incident reported in that communication, our campus has recently experienced several incidents of derogatory images and statements posted on public displays in various residence halls,” he wrote. “I know that all of us are dismayed by these disrespectful acts. They do not reflect the sort of community we all value at Augsburg.”

Those incidents prompted Taylor Foster, who is good friends with the student who was assaulted to plan a week of activities that celebrate the respectful climate on Augsburg despite the assault and the graffiti.

“It is our job as both Auggies and GLBT community members and allies to intentionally make people aware of the diverse student body and to show our support,” Taylor wrote on Facebook. “Join us while we stand up for the individuals who were affected by these HEINOUS acts and show our support for them and the GLBT community as a whole. We need to make a statement that here at Augsburg we are not going to tolerate these hateful acts. We need to make it known that it is okay to be whoever you are: gay, straight, bi, transgender, boy, girl or anything inbetween.”

The Metro Lutheran, an independent, pan-Lutheran newspaper serving the Greater Twin Cities area, attended the rally on Wednesday.

“We have a theological position that God created all of God’s creation as equals,” Pribbenow said according to the Metro. “We believe deeply that this is the kind of educational institution that is enriched by this diversity, and that we are preparing students to go forward into the world … together even when there are disagreements.”

“As a college president, how can you not be proud to have students reading the college mission statement,” he said. “They know what the vision of a community ought to be.”