abusing the intelligence pool that is my friendslist

[hermionesviolin]

My pieces are in quotes, editor comments in italics.

"If Smith were truly concerned about a diversity of points of view, wouldn't it be seeking out students whose politics lean toward the conservative end of the spectrum? Sure, Smith has a reputation as a liberal if not radical institution, but many places have reputations for being full of rich white people and are trying to change those reputations."
Not quite sure I follow. Many places like where? Many colleges? Are the rich whit epeople trying to change this, or others?"

"Just as people with different class backgrounds or who have lived through different time periods can offer valuable new insights into issues, particularly in classes such as sociology or government, so too can people with different political leanings. Smith encourages debate, but this debate is often circumscribed by the limited scope of political opinion on campus."
This makes it sound like all the Adas have lived through the Great Depression. Perhaps focus on the personal experience aspect of their uniqueness rather than emphasizing the generational.

"A full education requires a variety of perspectives; by minimizing the presence of conservative voices on campus, Smith College does all its students a disservice."
Good point, however, I think there are many conservatives on campus who are simply intimidated and afraid to voice their opinions as enthusiastically as their more abundant liberal counterparts.

Suggestions anyone? Edits due 6pm tonight (Sunday night).

Comments

[akronohten.livejournal.com]

Under our current president, who came in in the late 80s, DePauw has been trying quite hard to shed its upper class white midwestern male and women who go there to get their Mrs. image. And it's worked. We're only 80% greek, instead of 98%, as we were 10 years ago, for one. We're still near the bottom for midwestern liberal arts colleges in terms of minority faculty and students, but we're improving compared to where we were 10 years ago. And we've become one of the best colleges in terms of administration policies for queers. True, we've produced our radicals in the past (the first Marxist historian in the US, Charles Beard, Barbara Kingsolver, and Vernon Jordan), but we were - until recently - the place where "Thetas come to meet Betas", the phrase attributed to Margreat Meade before she left, hating its environment. So I'd say we're working to shed our traditional conservative image (we're also trying to shed our drinking issue, but that's another topic I don't want to get into). Oxford has been the same way, but it's been a more gradual process.

I'm not sure what any institution could do to encourage conservative (or any other type) of voices. They should be there, of course, but I'm not sure how to go about it. I do think it's getting hard now, with attacks on classical liberalism (John Stewart Mill walks in) from both the left and right. I'm not sure how this trend can be stopped, but I won't let it change my adherence to a sense of the indivudial being free, but also a member of society - as well as a beleif in pluralism as the only honest way of looking at the world.

[hermionesviolin.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure what any institution could do to encourage conservative (or any other type) of voices.

Yeah, my father and i were talking about this last weekend because it was Family Weekend and in her Presidential address, Carol Christ mentioned her commitment to diversity.

I think one big thing would be to hire more conservative faculty so that when profs mention politics in class it isn't all "So as the evil Bush Administration drags us closer to a fascist state...." (Or, obviously, the reverse if it's a heavily conservative campus.) Also, more guest speakers who have opinions at odds with the majority of the campus. And tied to that, having more forum discussions about issues with panelists of varying opinions.

[akronohten.livejournal.com]

Good points. Perpahs I didn't think much of the speakers since we tend to have well-balanced speakers, at least in terms of what the university gets. CR do have their inflamatory ones (like the guy who kept on going on about the "Manchester Guardian" as if it was a commie rag - not noticing it changed its name before he was born), but they tend to be good, and usually attract protesters - I wish I had gotten on Major, and likewise CR picketed Clark.