Whatever their personal beliefs, it’s going to be a long four years for students who can’t stand to read anything they don’t agree with.
At that age, many of them don’t have much in the way of ‘personal beliefs’ other than what someone has told them.
Thank goodness their admissions process works!! lol! JK, when you ask for diversity, you are also going to get those kids who need to take off the helmet mom had them wear up to now…
Or go to Oral Roberts U if you don’t want this exposure.
If I understand correctly, the point of the reading is to have something in common to talk about as soon as they arrive on campus. It is to engage everyone in the same discussion and created a sense of community and cohesiveness. It is about more than the particular assigned text. jmho.
Let me just say that I think there could be poor choices for a common reading like this. I don’t happen to think this is a poor choice, though, even though it has elements that are bound to be controversial. I think that’s part of the point.
The problem is that in most conservative families, kids are discouraged from reading anything that is not in agreement with their views. Those things are often viewed as “of the devil.”
A key purpose of college is to see the world from many perspectives. Most people’s views evolve in college for the better. I am glad that Duke is not backing down on this. If a text has been assigned that students disagree with, then it is an opportunity to organize and express those views persuasively, and develop a clear understanding of what the opposing views are.
“Like Adventures of Huckleberry Finn?”
Yes, that was actually the example I was thinking of - where I would not be surprised if I were to hear that a college assigned Huck Finn / Tom Sawyer and that people were offended / refused to read it because of the “n” word.
My question is: What are the students supposed to learn from a graphic novel (which is part of the objection) about lesbianism and sexual abuse from one point of view?.
Anybody here actually read/seen the book to have a real opinion?
With all the issues in the world that need discussing this does smack of personal agenda.
I would guess if the kids were of certain cultures other than conservative Christians (and that assumption may be very wrong–but that is the assumption of the press) then the reaction would be different.
Common books and discussion is a good thing but in my opinion this reflects more on Duke and its poor choices of what it considers “literature” rather than the kids who don’t want to read it.
This particular graphic novel has been widely recognized as literature.
Maybe. What would your reaction be, for example, if the book involved was Atlas Shrugged and the kids objecting to it were more liberal Christians who objected to the book’s attack on altruism?
^Maybe bc these kids are going to have to deal successfully with a larger LGBT community than they ever did before, and they will be expected to be able to treat them with respect and with an attitude of inclusion. As I said, if they can’t do that " because of religious beliefs", then they should have considered this “fit” issue with a very liberal culture and perhaps chosen a conservative Christian school.
My Mother was a librarian, and received complaints about books all the time. I always liked her first rule for a complaint, which was that you can’t file a complaint about a book you haven’t read. 
They need to understand that they are part of an academic marketplace of ideas within a nation that is that itself, sans the “academic” modifier.
People are different: you’re not going to get along with everyone and you are not going to like some opinions of everyone nor many views of some; that’s life in a pluralist, free, open society. But knowing and studying others’ views will help you understand, bolster, modify, or completely change your own, and regardless of the outcome, knowledge is always a good thing: the greater the number of opinions you encounter, the more you know and the more you can understand, empathize, and share with others. You will know more, and knowing more is good.
One of the downsides to social media, in my opinion, is that our meanness has been revealed to us: there’s so much hate and sarcasm (hate dressed in comedy) going on, from all sides of any issue, that one can judge the success of his post by the number of “F U”-type responses coming from those with differing viewpoints. That’s when you know you’ve hit the mark, got their goat, etc. We are, by and large, mean to one another.
Aside from other obvious ways to become less mean, like impressing upon our kids that respect and kindness are the default setting for interacting with others, reading about others’ views and experiences helps to lead us to some level of understanding; if not total agreement or acceptance, we at least will have a grasp of it, so that, when we come across some diatribe on facebook, we won’t be ice touching fire and lash out impulsively with our own hateful speech; rather, we will, having already witnessed this view or mode of thinking expressed previously, move with an informative, rather than mocking or angry, air. Calmer heads can converse far more productively than a bunch of hotheads reacting violently to something they encounter that shocks them. Reading brings the knowledge that helps us avoid being one of the hotheads.
Thus, by reading books that hold ideas with which we disagree, we make ourselves better communicators, thinkers, empathizers… people.
Oh yes, lets just let students graduate from college with closed minds and without ever having their eyes opened to the realities and experiences of other people in the world.
That is SUCH a good idea in today’s world… NOT!
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Very true which is why I asked who has actually seen the book have an informed opinion.
Duke has seen the book and maybe it’s good–I don’t know. I do know that winning awards doesn’t always make something great and mind expanding. After looking at their other choices in the running, it appears they thought more about controversy than mind-broadening. But again–I don’t really know.
Part of this controversy is that it is a “graphic” graphic novel (again I haven’t seen it.) But it does make a slippery slope about what “should” be tolerated in our society. And who gets to make those decisions for us. Guess just “say no” goes out the window when it doesn’t suit."
And to say that because they knew what they were getting into by going to Duke ? Really?
The “real world” is full of silliness like that, and instant recourse to law suits over tiny imagined slights.
Well, Duke gets to decide what is tolerated at Duke.
There is a huge difference between being “close-minded” and being openly accepting to values different than yours.
One can be very open to new ideas and listen to others views without having to accept them or embrace their agenda.
It’s the difference between tolerance and approval.
Being conservative does not equal “close-minded”.
"But it does make a slippery slope about what “should” be tolerated in our society. "
Your are extrapolating a mere “controversy” about a suggested book at one College into a ridiculous " there must be a problem in society " type of argument!
Exposing students [ who I assume are going to college to learn about the world- correct me if you think that is not a good reason] to a BOOK, is not going to create a slippery slope, unless of course it causes them to open their eyes and want to learn more- Oh the horror!
“And who gets to make those decisions for us”
The answer to your question is-
Our Government- representatives- in Congress, the President and the Supreme Court!!
Duh! 8-|
I’m done with commenting about this silly problem.
But if they are not even willing to read about it, ie, learn about it, then I think that is closed minded. No one is asking them to wear a rainbow shirt, just read a book!
Just for fun, I’m now going to argue the other side of this particular case. An incoming student who is a conservative Christian (or Muslim, as well) might justifiably fear that the choice of this book–and required discussions about it–are designed to reveal “homophobes” like himself to other students at the very beginning of the school year. It is arguably not fair to put somebody in that position right off the bat–while it’s one thing to choose something that is somewhat controversial, is it wise to choose something that it is likely to push students to take sides on highly divisive issues during orientation?
Anybody else want to switch sides–either way–and give it a shot?