After the letter was approved by Senate last Thursday, the St. Olaf student body received a copy of the text via e-mail.

According to Katie Hellen ‘'08, a member of the Inter-campus Committee, “the e-mail was a great thing for us because people actually read it.”

On Friday, Sunday and Monday, students had the opportunity to sign a petition in order to show support for the letter and demonstrate their belief that the behavior of a few students does not represent the college as a whole.

Senators who sat at tables outside Stav Hall to collect signatures on these days received “comments on all sides of the issue,” said Student Government Association (SGA) Vice President Rachel Erickson ‘'06. While some students believed that the events of the football game were blown out of proportion, others were glad to see an organized response on the part of the student body.

The final number of signatures totaled 1,824. Although SGA hoped to get 2,000 signatures, senators were excited about the student response.

The letter and petition were well received by Carleton’s student government.

“All of the senators accepted it graciously and were very impressed with our efforts,” said Vanessa Witt ‘'07, inter-campus liason and chair of the Inter-campus Committee. “"They were most impressed with the number of students who signed it, even without knowing the short amount of time we had to gather signatures,”" she said.

One Carleton senator commented on the actions of fellow Carleton students, acknowledging the taunting that occurred between students from both schools.

According to C.J. Griffiths, Carleton’s student body president, the letter was printed in Carleton’s Wednesday Noon News Bulletin and will be included in the next all-campus e-mail. It will also be posted in one of the main display cases on campus.

In the future, said Erickson, Senate would like to find ways to address racism and other issues underlying the comments made at the Cereal Bowl. According to Erickson, Senate has tentative plans to host a speaker on these topics next spring.

Until then, senators are satisfied with the results of their effort.

“I think the work really paid off,” Hellen said. “I think it was worth it.”

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