Grant Woolard
Encyclopedia
Grant Woolard is an American student cartoonist, formerly of the University of Virginia
's student paper, The Cavalier Daily
. The strip he drew and wrote was called Quirksmith
.
One was titled "Christ on a Cartesian Coordinate Plane," depicting a cruciform Jesus
superimposed over X and Y axes of the Cartesian coordinate system
. The second was titled "A Nativity Ob-scene," and depicted Joseph
and Mary
discussing a venereal rash Mary has developed, of which Mary says to Joseph, "I swear, it was immaculately transmitted!"
The cartoons immediately drew protest from the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights
, who demanded an apology. The University began to receive thousands of angry form letters, mostly from outside the University, although some Catholic students found the cartoons offensive as well. The cartoons were discussed on The O'Reilly Factor
.
The school took no punitive action against Woolard or the paper, although Woolard did apologize; the paper removed the cartoons from its website at Woolard's request. The paper initially declined to print an apology but eventually did so. Spokespeople for the university stated that the Cavalier Daily was an independent paper, which received no University funding, and that at any rate the University had a responsibility to uphold the freedoms of speech, expression and the press for its student body.
An editorial later ran in the Cavalier Daily that read in part "...we regret being thrust into the culture war in this way ... Just because a comic appears in our pages does not mean that the editors agree with the point or even find it in good taste. It only means that the comic fails to meet specific criteria that warrant censorship."
This strip featured nine black African men, nearly naked, fighting one another with various objects. The cartoon was quickly condemned by African American
students. On September 5, almost 200 protesters led by representatives from the NAACP demanded an apology from the paper and Woolard's termination, and staged a sit-in at the paper's office.
Woolard for his part said that he drew the cartoon to draw attention to famine, not to trivialize it, but admitted he could afterwards see how his characters could have been perceived as "misshapen" racial caricatures.
On September 6, the Cavalier Daily published an apology from the paper, as well as one from Woolard personally. The school's Dean of African American Affairs announced that he thought Woolard "immature", but that with the printed apologies he considered the matter settled.
Woolard said that he met with the managing board of the student-run paper on Sunday night, September 9, and was forced to resign from the paper, as a cartoonist and as a graphics editor. The Cavalier Daily's editor-in-chief, Herb Ladley, declined to comment. No action was taken against Ladley or the paper's operations manager, Meggie Bonner, both of whom approved the cartoon for publication, although some continued to call for them to step down as well. By his own admission, editor-in-chief Herb Ladley found the comic funny at the time of publication, which is likely the only reason the managing board did not contact Mr. Woolard regarding the content of the strip before it ran despite the clear offensive potential of the strip. If a comic is called into question, as per standard operating procedure for the Cavalier Daily, outlined in its constitution, members of the managing board are expected to contact the comic artist in question; all comic artists have contact information on file in the Cavalier Daily office for this very reason.
In an interview with the Washington Post, Robert Mankoff
, the cartoon
editor for The New Yorker
magazine, said that he didn't believe Woolard's intention was offensive or racially biased, but that his inability to perceive beforehand the sensitivity of such issues was a liability to the Cavalier Daily. Graphics co-editor Joe Shaver had seen the comic before it was complete and recommended it be altered, although he presumed it would be cut at the editorial level if not; Woolard was editing that night instead of the other two graphics editors.
Several of the paper's other cartoonists resigned in protest, including graphics co-editor and veteran comic artist of two years, Joe Shaver.
Woolard has said that he plans to continue cartooning, possibly as self-published, or with his own web site.
University of Virginia
The University of Virginia is a public research university located in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States, founded by Thomas Jefferson...
's student paper, The Cavalier Daily
The Cavalier Daily
The Cavalier Daily is the fully independent student-run newspaper at the University of Virginia, founded in 1890. It is the oldest daily college newspaper in Virginia and the oldest newspaper in Charlottesville, Virginia...
. The strip he drew and wrote was called Quirksmith
Quirksmith
Quirksmith is a newspaper comic strip and webcomic by Grant Woolard. It runs in the University of Virginia newspaper The Cavalier Daily...
.
Early controversy
On August 23 and 24, 2006, The Cavalier Daily published two Christianity-themed cartoons by Woolard that drew national attention and criticism to the paper.One was titled "Christ on a Cartesian Coordinate Plane," depicting a cruciform Jesus
Jesus
Jesus of Nazareth , commonly referred to as Jesus Christ or simply as Jesus or Christ, is the central figure of Christianity...
superimposed over X and Y axes of the Cartesian coordinate system
Cartesian coordinate system
A Cartesian coordinate system specifies each point uniquely in a plane by a pair of numerical coordinates, which are the signed distances from the point to two fixed perpendicular directed lines, measured in the same unit of length...
. The second was titled "A Nativity Ob-scene," and depicted Joseph
Saint Joseph
Saint Joseph is a figure in the Gospels, the husband of the Virgin Mary and the earthly father of Jesus Christ ....
and Mary
Mary (mother of Jesus)
Mary , commonly referred to as "Saint Mary", "Mother Mary", the "Virgin Mary", the "Blessed Virgin Mary", or "Mary, Mother of God", was a Jewish woman of Nazareth in Galilee...
discussing a venereal rash Mary has developed, of which Mary says to Joseph, "I swear, it was immaculately transmitted!"
The cartoons immediately drew protest from the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights
Catholic League (U.S.)
The Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, often shortened to the Catholic League, is an American Catholic anti-defamation and civil rights organization...
, who demanded an apology. The University began to receive thousands of angry form letters, mostly from outside the University, although some Catholic students found the cartoons offensive as well. The cartoons were discussed on The O'Reilly Factor
The O'Reilly Factor
The O'Reilly Factor, originally titled The O'Reilly Report from 1996 to 1998 and often called The Factor, is an American talk show on the Fox News Channel hosted by commentator Bill O'Reilly, who often discusses current controversial political issues with guests.The program was the most watched...
.
The school took no punitive action against Woolard or the paper, although Woolard did apologize; the paper removed the cartoons from its website at Woolard's request. The paper initially declined to print an apology but eventually did so. Spokespeople for the university stated that the Cavalier Daily was an independent paper, which received no University funding, and that at any rate the University had a responsibility to uphold the freedoms of speech, expression and the press for its student body.
An editorial later ran in the Cavalier Daily that read in part "...we regret being thrust into the culture war in this way ... Just because a comic appears in our pages does not mean that the editors agree with the point or even find it in good taste. It only means that the comic fails to meet specific criteria that warrant censorship."
Second controversy and forced resignation
On September 4, 2007, The Cavalier Daily published a strip of Woolard's titled "Ethiopian Food Fight", which caused considerable controversy and ultimately led to Woolard's ousting from the paper.This strip featured nine black African men, nearly naked, fighting one another with various objects. The cartoon was quickly condemned by African American
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
students. On September 5, almost 200 protesters led by representatives from the NAACP demanded an apology from the paper and Woolard's termination, and staged a sit-in at the paper's office.
Woolard for his part said that he drew the cartoon to draw attention to famine, not to trivialize it, but admitted he could afterwards see how his characters could have been perceived as "misshapen" racial caricatures.
On September 6, the Cavalier Daily published an apology from the paper, as well as one from Woolard personally. The school's Dean of African American Affairs announced that he thought Woolard "immature", but that with the printed apologies he considered the matter settled.
Woolard said that he met with the managing board of the student-run paper on Sunday night, September 9, and was forced to resign from the paper, as a cartoonist and as a graphics editor. The Cavalier Daily's editor-in-chief, Herb Ladley, declined to comment. No action was taken against Ladley or the paper's operations manager, Meggie Bonner, both of whom approved the cartoon for publication, although some continued to call for them to step down as well. By his own admission, editor-in-chief Herb Ladley found the comic funny at the time of publication, which is likely the only reason the managing board did not contact Mr. Woolard regarding the content of the strip before it ran despite the clear offensive potential of the strip. If a comic is called into question, as per standard operating procedure for the Cavalier Daily, outlined in its constitution, members of the managing board are expected to contact the comic artist in question; all comic artists have contact information on file in the Cavalier Daily office for this very reason.
In an interview with the Washington Post, Robert Mankoff
Robert Mankoff
Robert Mankoff is the current cartoon editor for The New Yorker magazine. Before he succeeded Lee Lorenz as editor, Mankoff was a cartoonist for The New Yorker for 20 years....
, the cartoon
Cartoon
A cartoon is a form of two-dimensional illustrated visual art. While the specific definition has changed over time, modern usage refers to a typically non-realistic or semi-realistic drawing or painting intended for satire, caricature, or humor, or to the artistic style of such works...
editor for The New Yorker
The New Yorker
The New Yorker is an American magazine of reportage, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons and poetry published by Condé Nast...
magazine, said that he didn't believe Woolard's intention was offensive or racially biased, but that his inability to perceive beforehand the sensitivity of such issues was a liability to the Cavalier Daily. Graphics co-editor Joe Shaver had seen the comic before it was complete and recommended it be altered, although he presumed it would be cut at the editorial level if not; Woolard was editing that night instead of the other two graphics editors.
Several of the paper's other cartoonists resigned in protest, including graphics co-editor and veteran comic artist of two years, Joe Shaver.
Woolard has said that he plans to continue cartooning, possibly as self-published, or with his own web site.
External links
- http://cavcomics.com/quirksmith/