^ http://scienceblogs.com/insolence/files/2013/09/doublefacepalm.jpg
BTW, protests are occuring at U MD CP, Ithaca, and others http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/12/us/racial-discrimination-protests-ignite-at-colleges-across-the-us.html?_r=0
This is mysterious, @fractalmstr. I looked at that Claremont McKenna story, of the Dean who was allegedly insensitive to the concerns of minority students. She said “…we are working on how we can better serve students, especially those who don’t fit our CMC mold.” OK, that’s clearly the wrong thing to say, but hey, anyone can make a mistake. But she also allegedly failed to respond to “violence that marginalized students have experienced on [CMC’s] campus,” which would, I’d think, call for a serious response and could easily be a firing offense, if it were true.
I looked at this story and figured that I don’t have enough information to know whether that Dean of Students should have been given the mitten months ago, or whether these allegations have no merit and it’s just a witch hunt. I don’t know. How do you know that a facepalm is the correct response? What is the source of your inside information about what is happening at CMC?
Not sure if this article has already been posted up-thread …
Cardinalfang, I have refrained from posting on this thread but have really been drawn in by the intelligent discussion. In regards to the situation at Claremont, I may have more to contribute. Today was a really good day in our house. Dean Spellman’s resignation was a long time coming. She has been a terrible advocate for marginalized students. My daughter, an amazing student, an athlete, and a wonderful asset to the CMC community, became extremely ill her senior year of college. She sought out Dean Spellman for support and was made to feel that she was the problem ie "did not fit the mold " and encouraged to leave. I spoke with Dean Spellman and found her to be a most incredibly unempathetic person. I base this opinion on my own experience. I have the same chromic illness as my daughter. I was diagnosed in college and my professors were extremely supportive. Claremont’s response to my daughter shocked me. This particular Dean was a really bad fit. She needed to go. I had an hour long phone call with my daughter tonight as she talked about how this gave her closure. Her 15 year old brother sat and listened and asked what happened. It was really difficult to explain how his extremely ill sister was maltreated by her college. I am leaving out many details, intentionally.
@TallyMom2017 - Thanks for posting the economist link. The article brings up an important point that these students are legally adults. They are full citizens and have the right to vote and to serve, and die, in the military, yet they need protections from Halloween costumes. If they weren’t in college, they would be working at a job. These aren’t kids anymore.
The talk shows were busy tonight, and the following two video clips summarize the two positions taken on this thread. Here is a video of the Mizzou Student Vice President, Brenda Smith-Lezama, discussing the First Amendment.
In the clip, she states:
Essentially, she wants to muzzle any speech, actions or microaggressions that she might find offensive. Later, Alan Dershowitz responded to Smith-Lezama in the following clip:
PG,
It’s really not that simple. If it was simply a matter of poor social skills, this line of questioning wouldn’t be nearly as effective a bullying tactic against perceived “undesirables” who don’t belong or used as often for such purposes by those in the dominant majority. It also wouldn’t be used as a stock bullying tactic.
I’d also doubt it’s poor social skills as those with poor social skills don’t have the social dominance authority and support from one’s peers to have to have the nerve to ask such a question in the first place. The ones asking such questions usually do so from a perceived position of greater social dominance over the one being asked. And unfortunately, in too many cases that perception has some truth to it.
One way to think about social skills is to consier if they result in promoting and protecting your place in a particular society. Obviously there are social skills that create a better society for the large group>(President of University of Louisville apologized for his questionable costume (http://www.whas11.com/story/news/local/2015/11/12/uofls-ramsey-issues-letter-apology-after-controversial-photo/75672476/) But there are also behaviors (for example, racist, sexist, classist) that benefit a certain segment of society. Praticioners of those social skills see themselves as using social skills that preserve the language, help weak women, reward hard work, and so on.
It is also a possibility, perhaps, in a few cases, to hear a conversational “So, how did you end up at Yale?” as a hostile “How did you get in here?”.
I think people forget that african american students are already dealing with quite a bit in their lifetimes. Systemic racism is something we can prove with statistics. We deal with so much on a regular basis that overt racism is enough to send you over the top. Its really important to marginalize people who think its okay to wear black face and afros as a halloween costume. No, you can’t stop people from doing stupid stuff. But you can place so much compassion, understanding and condemnation of such acts right next to it to help neutralize the effect.
students don’t want to be told, “deal with it”. We are already dealing with it. You would expect more from the master of a college who is in charge of making your living space a home.
http://yaledailynews.com/blog/2015/11/13/students-submit-new-demands-to-salovey/
Next Yale has formed and issued a set of demands to the administration.
Most of these demands seem pretty reasonable to me
1)ethnic studies requirement. I thought all universities already had this. I am a little shocked when large southern universities have these in place and Yale does not.
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more money spent on mental health including at the cultural centers. Not sure how they came up with their dollar figure but Yale has plenty of cash and I have voiced my opinion many times that they should spend it rather than hoard it so here is a great place to do that. The amount is a rounding error in yale’s endowment.
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increase in operating budgets at cultural centers. Again Yale can afford them and as long as they are not exclusionary placed, then this seems reasonable.
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renaming Calhoun college (my understanding is that Calhoun never supported Yale nor had anything to do with it after he graduated) ; naming two new residential colleges after people of color- does this mean there are none now? Again that would be shocking as I believe this is commonplace in the large southern universities I have visited.
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removal of NC and EC from administrative roles. This is within the rights of the students to demand whether I agree with it or not.
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“The final demand focused on allocating resources to support the physical well-being of international, first-generation, low-income and undocumented students” This is a catch all and without seeing the actual demand seems to be a throw away. Already comments on YDN that they left out homosexuals. Maybe they are covered by one of the cultural centers.
Re: post 911: But that’s just it. While EC’s email was a bit long-winded and written from the perspective of her educational-developmental background, and probably ill-advised and insensitive, given her role, interpreting it as a message that bluntly says “deal with it” is, IMO, a bit of an overreaction. It seems she was commenting that the administration was being too controlling. Its a delicate cakewalk to find the balance of being protective and inclusive without being overly controlling.
It could very well be that #1 was already addressed by individual major requirements?.. Way back in the stone ages when I attended UC Santa Cruz (no one could accuse that place as being absent political awareness) each major had that requirement.
But if the students want a course taught as an introductory “Frosh” requirement that would probably work.
The only foreseeable problem then becomes how it’s taught. The tendencies for a watered down, laundry list of historical infractions would seem counter productive to any real solution.
@boolaHI I am shocked college students drop N word. I thought we were all way beyond that.
That’s what I initially thought, too. But if students drop N word and call out charity case to African American students on campus, it’s more likely than likely that they meant what they said.
I don’t know where it comes from but I noticed people just pick one aspect of an incident to make a case. The Economist article started out how students are all adults. They are not, are they? If they were adults, why would they need a housemaster? Do adults need supervision from another adult? If EC’s email was from an adult to other adults, it wouldn’t have been an issue. You can shrug it off if you disagree. It carried more weight than that. That’s why it became an issue and that EC doesn’t seem to recognize her responsibility makes her unfit for a supervising role.
The Economist article is well reasoned or logical but it’s starting point is flawed. What good does a good writing contribute to a conversation if it starts out wrong? The same goes with the Christaskis(?). Why is this a freedom of speech issue? If I tell my kids to be nice, am I restricting their freedom? In an extreme wacky sense, yes. But a professor at a renowned university is not a wacko, we would assume. Are they so caught up in making arguments for arguments’ sake that they are dissociated from facts? As far as it is reasoned well and logical, we are good? Is this what Prof NC teaches to his students?
About calling out charity case or dropping N word, it is shocking not just because it is racist. Calling people names is such a low way of expressing intellectually that I would thought any educated people would find it limiting.
If she was truly such a bad fit, why not organize a petition and take it up the chain of command at CMC to have her removed? Why the need for a protest?
Clearly these kids wanted the attention IMO, and that’s the part that bugs a lot of people, including myself. Their well-intentioned ideas are overshadowed by their narcissism and immaturity. There are more responsible ways to get things done than to go yelling and screaming outside with the cameras turned on.
As I see it, you start low and work higher as needed… don’t just start out weapons blazing like most of these kids are.
Just my opinion.
I think the original email went beyond telling people to be “nice.” It provided links to a Pinterest board with suggested costumes and costumes to avoid. A group of students took issue with it and brought their complaint to EC. She then reduced her thoughts on the matter to an email which was then challenged by a group of students who are now calling for her resignation. How is this not a freedom of speech issue?
NC didn’t write the email. EC did, Igloo. And where is is said that anyone called anyone a charity case? Is that printed somewhere or in a post here? Didnt see that. The majority of Yale undergrads get some need based aid, with the average need-based aid being almost $49K . http://oir.yale.edu/sites/default/files/CDS2014_2015.pdf
House Masters aren’t supervisors - at least not in the sense of looking after undergrads. Think of them more like mentors. The idea with the residential housing system was to have young adults (undergrads), youngish adults (grad students/RAs/tutors - or whatever they call them at Yale) and older adults (associated faculty including the Master) living and eating together on a regular basis. This is supposed to create a synergy where your classroom experiences can be brought back to the houses and continue. I didn’t see the masters of my Harvard house that often, but they held teas, they made sure some of the more reclusive faculty came for dinner (I had dinner with Robert Lowelll once.) I presume that many of the activities that took place in the house were okayed by them - concerts, plays, parties, movie nights, lectures, classes.
I don’t think the male half of our Master duo knew my name, but his wife did indeed use the freshman facebook (a real book in those days) to learn everyone’s name before we arrived. It was kind of creepy!