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April 13, 2007 |
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Letters to the Editor Student appalled at staff responses After reading Laura Williams' letter several weeks ago, I knew that The Crusader would be full of letters responding to her. It's not the first time this situation has happened, and I wasn't surprised by the students' responses. I was, however, quite shocked by the responses from several members of the Susquehanna staff.Leaders in respected positions such as theirs should not rebut a student's opinion in this way. They've shown that not all opinions are respected at Susquehanna Williams' opinion is obviously not and that respect for diversity in this community is still a problem. In their writings, they address and rebut the supposed "facts" in her letter. The fact is that her letter was her OPINION. Some experience caused Williams to write that letter - opinions don't exist in a vacuum. It is irresponsible and unprofessional of these faculty and staff to rebut her opinion without trying to understand the underlying factors behind her opinion. In respected positions such as theirs, they should not publicly deride the opinions of students. And if they think that a student's opinion is harmful to others or grossly wrong, they should first talk to that student privately before making their opinions public to the entire Susquehanna community. In my opinion, their responses were in bad taste, and my respect for them and for this university has been lessened by their public rebuttal of a student's opinion because they disagreed with it. I personally think that they owe Miss Williams an apology. –Michaiah Wise '07 Diversity shouldn't be taboo subject Here I am with another anger-fueled rant. I've bitten my tongue on the whole diversity issue for quite some time now, allowing only my close friends to hear me complain about this campus' ignorance. I don't want to play victim here, but I am a minority on campus as well; a person who doesn't care about anyone else's race or ethnicity. Well, not that I don't care, but that I don't judge or feel any different about anyone with a different skin tone or religion. That kind of acceptance is in the minority at Susquehanna.Why do we all walk on eggshells around here, whispering to our similar peers about those who are different: the diverse? I wish that every time someone said "diversity," that the mystery music dun dun dun would play. Ahhhh, diversity! I shudder to think about the world I am going to enter after college, if everyone at college already thinks they are so superior to those who are different than them. If you think you are a better human than anyone else because you are the cookie-cutter preppy white kid at a cookie-cutter white university, then you are in for a rude awakening. You're plastic. Your desire to be the most non-diverse individual has stripped you of what God gave you, a personality and a soul. Growing up, I had white friends, black friends, Mexican, Salvadoran, Greek and Jewish friends. You name it, and they were my friends: punk rockers, jocks, hip-hop kids, skaters and cheerleaders. I don't care what you are; I care about who you are. I am honestly disheartened that so many people here do not see things my way. Don't we all breathe the same air? On a wonderful diversity note - Oh no, there's that buzz word - I have a family story to share. I grew up in the suburbs of Harrisburg and went to the now defunct Herman Avenue Elementary School. My best friend at Herman Avenue Elementary was Alex Cheese, who was black. Alex and I didn't once mention the difference in our skin colors, not because of the taboo of talking about race, but because it did not matter in the least to us. We were kids. The summer before fourth grade, my mom got remarried and we moved. What is sad is that when we moved, I lost touch with Alex and the rest of my grade school crew. Fast forward to 2006. I hear through the grapevine that my cousin Meghan is dating a black guy. He turns out to be Alex Cheese. I am so pleased to have the kid I called "bro" almost 15 years ago reenter my life and become true family. So what's the moral of my story about Alex? The moral is that I didn't care what color someone was when I was five years old, and I still don't care. I love people, all people. We are all connected as humans. Stop looking for how different someone is from you and start seeing how similar we all are. -Mitch Rife '08 |
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