“… Dean Mary Spellman at Claremont McKenna stepped down after she sparked a campus protest and hunger strikes by two students this week over her email to a Latina student saying she would work to serve those who ‘don’t fit our CMC mold.’” …
Another one bites the dust. Domino Effect?
http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-claremont-marches-20151112-story.html
The pitchfork waving mob is eating its own…
The Missouri incident set a very bad precedent. Higher education admins will now be eternally worried about pandering to special interest student groups than making the university experience better for everyone.
Read this and make sure to look at the comments as well: http://claremontindependent.com/we-dissent/
@Corinthian – Great link. That is an extraordinarily well-written opinion piece.
I have a strong feeling that the author(s) have a much brighter future than the screaming students who can only express themselves in four-letter words.
I second that. It is an extraordinarily well written piece.
@Corinthian Thank you for sharing that powerful piece. I am forwarding it on to many people.
My grandmother used to say “there is good and bad in all people”.
My modern interpretation of that is “idiots can have any color, race, ethnicity, gender, gender presentation, sexuality, disability, religion, or culture” (etc, even SES and test scores and GPA…)
When it comes down to it, the question is at what point is any institution, be it a public school or college, or a religious organization, become responsible for the actions of its members. The problems in the Catholic Church were not because of pedophilia, it was covering up pedophilia by administration that was the issue, and still is in some cases. The same thing with public schools, covering up pedophilia and harassment. My son was harassed by a Latina teacher who won awards for supporting the Hispanic community. She also harassed a Latino boy as well. When my son spoke up, he was fired from his summer job because “she couldn’t have done that to him and the other boy”. On paper, she’s a saint. In real life, she apologized to my son and said “I have ADD, sometimes I say the wrong things…”.
I teach college, and it became apparent to me in the last few years that it is risky to email students, and it is risky to make decisions on my own without sending students to university administrators. I have to send simple emails up the chain to avoid personal liability. Students get frustrated that I cannot give them an answer.
As for the email of issue:
" Latina student saying she would work to serve those who “don’t fit our CMC mold.” vs. think about possible other phrasing, would any of these have been better?
All of them smack of calling the Latina student “other”. And if people think being called “other” EVEN if on paper your quantitative characteristics show you to be different, then none of those three phrases, or any possible phrase, can meet the needs of the “zero racism” brigade.
I am other. My children are other. My spouse is mostly white, looks white, but grew up in a single parent household. Also grew up poor, free and reduced lunches in public schools. He is other by SES, even if you ignore his multiracial background because he doesn’t appear multiracial.
If we are getting to a point where calling someone “other” is an insult, that’s sad. How can we celebrate diversity if we refuse to admit it exists, unless we are with our “own people”?
My impression is that, whatever her other faults or virtues may have been, the “CMC mold” comment was a matter of awkward phrasing. CMC does have a sterotype and it is the white privileged male headed to a career in government or finance. As Dean, Spellman had lots of students coming to her worried that they didn’t fit in. She was awkwardly trying to sound sensitive to that and it backfired. Maybe she should’ve said “the CMC stereotype” instead of the “CMC mold.” When stories hit the national media (as in the Yale situation) a lot of the local context and nuance is just missed.
I wonder; if you could electronically search the CMC Administration’s entire e-mail database, how frequently would the term “CMC mold” come up?
Wow… Nice editorial. So I guess the pitchfork waving crowd will now start burning the school newspaper.
To the kids of the editorial board; “J’Accuse!” Emile Zola would be proud of you. You are noble.
@rhandco I’m pretty sure any intro lit class will show why being considered the “other” is not an enjoyable experience. History has shown, especially in America through the 70s or 80s, that being the “other” means a whole ton of discrimination and harassment
Wow, good editorial. Thanks for sharing it. I’m going to pass it along.
Good enough reason to go to Columbia!