By Lisa W. Foderaro in the New York Times
Nikomeh Anderson, a friend of Tyler Clementi's, spoke during a tribute to him on Thursday in Ridgewood, N.J. Beside her, from left, were Chelsea Spell, Wendy Kennedy and Deb Spell.
Marcus Yam for The New York Times
Eileen Kelly-McGeever cried during the playing of a song written for Tyler Clementi at St. Elizabeth’s Episcopal Church in Ridgewood, N.J.
The gathering was billed as a town hall meeting, not a religious service (his family had kept his funeral strictly private). And though the speakers included victims of bullying who had not known Mr. Clementi, as well as local and state politicians, former classmates of his from Ridgewood High School were also scattered across the pews, and one spoke movingly of her grief. It was thus the most intimate, personal tribute to be held since Mr. Clementi’s suicide on Sept. 22 drew national attention.
The friend, Nikomeh Anderson, a freshman at New York University and an aspiring actress, talked about the young man who had sat near her in a high school class, as well as her shock upon learning of his death — without knowing the circumstances that led to it.
Mr. Clementi, a Rutgers freshman and an accomplished violinist, leapt to his death three days after his roommate, Dharun Ravi, secretly set up a webcam in their dorm room, prosecutors say. They contend that Mr. Ravi joined another freshman, Molly Wei, in the dormitory on the university’s Piscataway campus to watch Mr. Clementi’s intimate encounter with another man and streamed it live on the Internet.
“They outed him on the Internet, doing something that’s very private and very personal,” Ms. Anderson told the audience Thursday night at St. Elizabeth’s Episcopal Church. “No one deserves to have their private life made public. Imagine how violated, embarrassed, angry and ashamed he must have been.”
“Our love of art really drew us together, made us more cultured, more mature people, yet somehow always with a spark of craziness and fun,” she said. “Tyler was a part of this family and a part of the Ridgewood High School community, and I just couldn’t wrap my head around why such a talented, generous person would jump off the G. W. Bridge.”
Coming on the eve of Bullying Prevention Month in October and National Coming Out Day on Monday, the suicide immediately touched a nerve. It has generated a nationwide conversation about the vulnerability of gay teenagers and prompted celebrities like the talk show host Ellen DeGeneres, the former “American Idol” judge Paula Abdul and Tim Gunn, of the television series “Project Runway,” to speak out against harassment. Ms. DeGeneres, who is gay, posted a video on her Web site in which she described Mr. Clementi’s suicide as a “wake-up call” and teenage bullying as an epidemic.
The forum on Thursday, in which Anthony Bevilacqua, a former violinist from the Ridgewood Symphony Orchestra, played a piece he had composed called “Heaven’s New Angel,” was the latest gathering to remember Mr. Clementi, 18, and to urge tougher laws against bullying. On Wednesday, at a town meeting at Rutgers, Senator Frank R. Lautenberg said he would introduce legislation to make colleges adopt a code of conduct that prohibits bullying. The law would also provide money for schools to establish programs to prevent such harassment.
Both town meetings were organized by the gay rights group Garden State Equality.
Mr. Ravi, 18, of Plainsboro, N.J., and Ms. Wei, also 18, of Princeton Junction, were charged with two counts of invasion of privacy for using a “camera to view and transmit a live image” of Mr. Clementi. The most serious charges carry a maximum sentence of five years. Mr. Ravi was additionally charged with two counts of invasion of privacy for trying a similar live transmission on Sept. 21, the day before the suicide.
Prosecutors are now weighing whether to upgrade the charges to a hate crime based on Mr. Clementi’s sexual orientation. The Middlesex County prosecutor, Bruce J. Kaplan, said last week that his office would make “every effort to assess whether bias played a role in the incident.”
Mr. Ravi made reference to his roommate’s sexual orientation in a Twitter message after he successfully caught him on camera, writing: “I saw him making out with a dude. Yay.”
On Tuesday, lawyers for Ms. Wei issued a statement, declaring her innocence and saying that she “committed no crime” and that “her remarkable reputation is being unjustly tarnished by uninformed and incorrect assumptions.” On Wednesday, Mr. Ravi’s lawyer, Steven D. Altman, said in a statement that he was “heartened to hear” that prosecutors were “taking their time to learn all the facts before rushing to judgment.”
Many in the audience on Thursday had driven long distances to show their support for Mr. Clementi and gay rights. “I’m here to make sure this person didn’t kill himself in vain,” said Chase Kruppo, 22, of Jackson, N.J., a recent college graduate and a volunteer for the Stonewall Community Foundation, a gay-rights organization. “We should not be here tonight.”
The friend, Nikomeh Anderson, a freshman at New York University and an aspiring actress, talked about the young man who had sat near her in a high school class, as well as her shock upon learning of his death — without knowing the circumstances that led to it.
Mr. Clementi, a Rutgers freshman and an accomplished violinist, leapt to his death three days after his roommate, Dharun Ravi, secretly set up a webcam in their dorm room, prosecutors say. They contend that Mr. Ravi joined another freshman, Molly Wei, in the dormitory on the university’s Piscataway campus to watch Mr. Clementi’s intimate encounter with another man and streamed it live on the Internet.
“They outed him on the Internet, doing something that’s very private and very personal,” Ms. Anderson told the audience Thursday night at St. Elizabeth’s Episcopal Church. “No one deserves to have their private life made public. Imagine how violated, embarrassed, angry and ashamed he must have been.”
“Our love of art really drew us together, made us more cultured, more mature people, yet somehow always with a spark of craziness and fun,” she said. “Tyler was a part of this family and a part of the Ridgewood High School community, and I just couldn’t wrap my head around why such a talented, generous person would jump off the G. W. Bridge.”
Coming on the eve of Bullying Prevention Month in October and National Coming Out Day on Monday, the suicide immediately touched a nerve. It has generated a nationwide conversation about the vulnerability of gay teenagers and prompted celebrities like the talk show host Ellen DeGeneres, the former “American Idol” judge Paula Abdul and Tim Gunn, of the television series “Project Runway,” to speak out against harassment. Ms. DeGeneres, who is gay, posted a video on her Web site in which she described Mr. Clementi’s suicide as a “wake-up call” and teenage bullying as an epidemic.
The forum on Thursday, in which Anthony Bevilacqua, a former violinist from the Ridgewood Symphony Orchestra, played a piece he had composed called “Heaven’s New Angel,” was the latest gathering to remember Mr. Clementi, 18, and to urge tougher laws against bullying. On Wednesday, at a town meeting at Rutgers, Senator Frank R. Lautenberg said he would introduce legislation to make colleges adopt a code of conduct that prohibits bullying. The law would also provide money for schools to establish programs to prevent such harassment.
Both town meetings were organized by the gay rights group Garden State Equality.
Mr. Ravi, 18, of Plainsboro, N.J., and Ms. Wei, also 18, of Princeton Junction, were charged with two counts of invasion of privacy for using a “camera to view and transmit a live image” of Mr. Clementi. The most serious charges carry a maximum sentence of five years. Mr. Ravi was additionally charged with two counts of invasion of privacy for trying a similar live transmission on Sept. 21, the day before the suicide.
Prosecutors are now weighing whether to upgrade the charges to a hate crime based on Mr. Clementi’s sexual orientation. The Middlesex County prosecutor, Bruce J. Kaplan, said last week that his office would make “every effort to assess whether bias played a role in the incident.”
Mr. Ravi made reference to his roommate’s sexual orientation in a Twitter message after he successfully caught him on camera, writing: “I saw him making out with a dude. Yay.”
On Tuesday, lawyers for Ms. Wei issued a statement, declaring her innocence and saying that she “committed no crime” and that “her remarkable reputation is being unjustly tarnished by uninformed and incorrect assumptions.” On Wednesday, Mr. Ravi’s lawyer, Steven D. Altman, said in a statement that he was “heartened to hear” that prosecutors were “taking their time to learn all the facts before rushing to judgment.”
Many in the audience on Thursday had driven long distances to show their support for Mr. Clementi and gay rights. “I’m here to make sure this person didn’t kill himself in vain,” said Chase Kruppo, 22, of Jackson, N.J., a recent college graduate and a volunteer for the Stonewall Community Foundation, a gay-rights organization. “We should not be here tonight.”
No comments:
Post a Comment