I can only speak for my DC, but she loves Davidson and shares that her group of friends feel the same. She has developed close friendships with students on her hall, is really enjoying her classes, and loves the size. She does say the food isn’t the greatest, but that isn’t a major factor for her. I’m sure there are students who feel differently, but I wanted to share another perspective.
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Golf, Well said.
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I think in any discussion of “woke” campuses, we need to differentiate between campuses that lean left politically (and compared to the general population all but a few university campuses lean left), and campuses that have succumbed to regressive leftists who engage in censorship or pressure tactics to comply with their worldview. I don’t think anyone, right or left, has any problem with a campus that generally leans left as long as students and faculty are open to open, respectful debate, and people are open minded. Sadly, we see all too many cases of 1. speakers being shouted-down, uninvited, or even physically attacked, 2, of faculty publicly berating or grading-down students who have the temerity to question the orthodoxy of the day, 3. of students physically intimidating professors and other students who question the current orthodoxy (Evergreen), 4. of faculty losing their positions for simply stating empirical facts that not long ago offended no one, 5. of students being socially ostracized for questioning the current orthodoxy, and 6. curriculum being sanitized so it does not offend activist students.
I know this post is a bit over the top, but censorship and pressure to adhere to a given orthodoxy is a real problem on many campuses today. If interested, you might want to check out heterodoxacademy.org (Heterodox Academy is an organization started by academics - most from the liberal left - who promote open inquiry on campus), thefire.org (FIRE is a group that defends free speech on campus), or watch/read any of many interviews with Professor Weinstein, a self-described progressive who was hounded off campus at Evergreen State College for questioning a regressive policy there.
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Been following this thread for a while,
Finally jumped in
Funny how you consider Woke to be
Instead of the Dictionary definition.
having or marked by an active awareness of systemic injustices and prejudices, especially those related to civil and human rights:
Not familiar with your sources so a quick google source
The Fire
FIRE was co-founded by Alan Charles Kors and Harvey Silverglate, who were FIRE’s co-directors until 2004. … FIRE has received funding from the Bradley Foundation, Sarah Scaife Foundation, and the Charles Koch Institute, organizations which primarily support conservative causes.
Heterodoacademy
A published study founders views on Liberalism and conservatism and Morality
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and Bret Weinstein, peddler of Covid disinformation
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The dictionary definition has zero to do with what actually occurs on college campuses. @JackH2021 has enumerated quite well the type of “woke” that students might experience on a particular campus. If it matters to them, it’s well worth it for parents and students to ascertain the “climate” on campus as well as their level of comfort with it (this may be even more applicable when looking at smaller schools).
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If your purpose was to demonstrate guilt by association, then the United Negro College Fund must also be be guilty, for they too are supported by the Charles Koch foundation. As are MIT, Stanford, and most of the Ivy League colleges. David Koch was one of the largest donors to PBS, which the last time I checked, was not particularly conservative.
Perhaps a better approach is to just judge FIRE on its own merits or lack thereof.
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Let’s move the conversation back to Davidson, instead of spending time defining “woke,” please.
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Back to Davidson… as of December 2021 Davidson was poised to adopt a version of the Chicago Statement, which is a commitment to free expression and open debate on campus. This is good news, and it reflects well on the leadership at Davidson.
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If we are talking about how Woke Davidson or any school is.
There needs to be a definition of what Woke is
I provide what the Dictionary states Woke is.
If you do not believe what the standard definition of Woke is, but label everything that is against a political view Woke. It will be hard to agree how woke Davidson or any school is when the Definition of what woke is not relevant to some here.
If we are talking about censorship call it censorship or some other injustice state it as such.
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Hmmm…I’m not sure precisely what connection is being made here between being ‘woke’ and free speech; however, given the connotation that being ‘woke’ is related to issues of racial justice, I want to point out that Davidson is in the midst of formally and deliberatively reckoning with its historic ties to slavery and ensuing racist actions. Here’s more information:
https://www.davidson.edu/about/commission-race-and-slavery
The college has produced a clear-eyed report documenting its ties to slavery and racism, issued a formal apology, and has an ongoing Commission making additional recommendations.
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Check out the website for Davidsonians for Freedom of Thought and Discourse.
I found the answers to the fall 2021 student survey very interesting.
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"EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Student self-censorship is a problem on Davidson’s campus
71% of respondents said they have felt they could not express their “opinion on a subject” because of how students, a professor, or the administration would respond at least “occasionally.”
Only 16% of respondents said they are “very comfortable” expressing their views on a controversial topic in class (an additional 29% said “somewhat comfortable”).
Students do not perceive a high level of administrative commitment to protecting free speech on campus
Only 27% of Davidson students answered that it is “extremely” (7%) or “very” (20%) likely “the administration would defend the speaker’s right to express [his/her] views” if a controversy over offensive speech were to occur on campus.
Students strongly support open discourse and viewpoint diversity; they also believe that improving the campus climate for free expression should be a priority of the next president
88% of respondents “strongly” (42%) or “somewhat” (46%) agreed that “Davidson’s next president should make freedom of speech and open, civil discourse on campus a high priority.
79% said that Davidson’s next president should “make the adoption and implementation of the Chicago Principles [on Freedom of Expression] . . . a high priority.”
77% of Davidson College students in the survey “strongly” (38%) or “somewhat” (39%) agreed that the next president should “make achieving ideological and political balance at the college a priority.”
I applaud administrations that draw a line on offensive speech. Anyone who wishes to unleash a torrent of offensive opinions should be told they are being offensive. This thread almost seems like, “I want to say anything I want, but if someone says they are offended by my speech then I am offended by their reaction.” It’s almost like the Free Speechers want to restrict the free speech of anyone who complains about their words. Which indicates this isn’t really about free speech at all.
Instead of coy phrasing like “free speech”, can some of the people complaining about the lack of free speech speak out about exactly what sort of phrases they would like Davidson to embrace? Clarity and honesty are good things.
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I thought they were writing their own version of the Chicago Principles? I haven’t compared the two documents.
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The problem with censoring “offensive speech” is what is the defined as “offensive” and who gets to decide what is “offensive”?
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Davidson does not need to embrace any speech, just permit all speech.
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I am simply do not understand what “woke” means. Again, what is the diametric opposite of “woke”? Is it that all speech is allowed, and no speech can be deemed “offensive”? Is that place “not woke”?
There are many examples of speech that can be curtailed as a matter of federal and state law. Examples include deceptive advertising under consumer protection laws, securities laws under the '33 or '34 Acts (or comparable state securities laws) where full disclosure must be made and deceptive/misleading/manipulative statements are prohibited in the context of securities registration and required disclosures, oral agreements to fix prices, defamatory speech etc etc etc are restricted or prohibited.
Indeed, several CCers found this professor’s words “offensive”: Professor Barry Mehler suspended for lecture . Proponents of “free speech” should have no problems with what was said, would they not?
Surely, then, this nebulous concept of “wokeness” (and its opposite-I am extremely curious what an “unwoke” school is) does not rest with “free speech”? And since when does the US Constitution’s First Amendment provisions on “free speech” apply to a private college in North Carolina like Davidson?
What is “woke”? Perhaps if that definition is agreed upon, then the OP’s query can be properly answered in relation to Davidson?
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Please show me an example of Davidson censoring speech. At that point we can have an intelligent conversation about defining whether or not Davidson misstepped in determining what is offensive.
For now, without any specific examples, this is a strawman argument.
Also, perhaps we should review the definition of “censor”. I think it’s being misused in this thread. AFAIK, neither Davidson nor any other college has officially “censored” any speech. At most, Davidson and other schools have encouraged and facilitated discourse on several topics that many felt had not been discussed thoroughly before. I fail to see how encouraging discourse has been twisted into being a form of censorship.
Once again, I wonder aloud whether the reality is this thread is less about censorship and more about something that no one has yet to speak up about. The original post said nothing about censorship - it asked about “woke”. What does that mean to the OP and the others criticizing Davidson in this regard?
Ultimately, because the OP never mentioned censorship, because the OP hasn’t commented in this thread in a while presumably because his/her question has been answered sufficiently (wrt Davidson), and because the discussion has veered far off course into tired repeats from other threads … I wonder if this thread has run its useful course.
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I think it has.
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