March 31, 2008

Hampshire College Students Stage Walkout to Demand More Diversity

Students at Hampshire College, in Amherst, Mass., walked out of class this morning to protest what they saw as administrators’ insufficient commitment to fighting racism, the Associated Press reported.

As part of a series of events called Action Awareness Week — featuring a teach-in, a speak-out, and a writing workshop on oppression — a group of students had presented a list of 17 diversity-related demands (also posted on Facebook) to Hampshire’s president, Ralph J. Hexter.

Among other things, the students were calling for additional faculty and staff positions in multicultural affairs, mandatory “anti-oppression training” for all employees, and residence halls exclusively for students of color and for “queer-identified” students. A few hundred students staged the walkout, an organizer told the AP, when the college’s president did not immediately agree to their demands.

But Mr. Hexter, who is one of academe’s few openly gay presidents, has had several lengthy meetings with the student activists, and he plans to sit down with them again this afternoon, said Nancy Kelly, senior adviser to the president. —Sara Lipka

Comments

1. So exactly how does setting aside “separate but equal” housing exclusively for specific groups help attain diversity?

   — bb    Mar 31, 03:38 PM    #

2. The students evidently see separate but equal as a worthy goal. This is not progress.

   — wm    Mar 31, 03:49 PM    #

3. Are they pressing for more diversity in terms of political views—more right wingers, evangelicals, NRA members, and Young Republicans? Because I think these groups are under-represented at Hampshire College! Diversity on your own terms is not diversity.

   — Chowder    Mar 31, 03:52 PM    #

4. Bizarre.

   — TRB    Mar 31, 03:59 PM    #

5. I’m wondering if students are asking for more social class diversity. Usually selective colleges are very class homogeneous – with 90% or more coming from affluent, upper middle or middle class backgrounds – regardless of race or sexual orientation.

   Should social class be part of our diversity expectations and discussions?

   — Dwight    Mar 31, 04:06 PM    #

6. “A few hundred students staged the walkout, an organizer told the AP, when the college’s president did not immediately agree to their demands.” Well that certainly sounds cooperative (not).

   — BH    Mar 31, 04:15 PM    #

7. I’m sorry. . .this is just about the funniest thing I’ve read in quite a while! You would be hard pressed to find a more liberal institution than Hampshire. There are a few (and one less with the crazies at Antioch having to crawl under different rocks), but darn few. And that’s the problem. If you are a student at Hampshire, what is there to protest? Your president is one of only three openly gay College presidents in the country! I don’t know for a fact, but I’d be willing to bet they do everything but kidnap minority high school students in an effort to get them into the school. So. . .the only thing left (pun intended) to do is declare that, as of right now, the current liberal environment is actually an oppressive environment. The solution? Protest everything and become even more liberal/progressive! Let’s see. . .How can we do that?

   Segregated dorms for gays and blacks. . . My, oh my. . . what will those clever liberals think of next to improve our lives?

   — Bill    Mar 31, 04:33 PM    #

8. Get a life!

   — D    Mar 31, 04:33 PM    #

9. Diversity has been abused by right- and left-wingers. It used to simply relate to races. From #4 above I try to stay away from using the word. I believe that what the students want is racial diversity. Mass. is one of the most racist states in the country. Just ask any black person in that state, especially those working at the colleges and universities.

   — Sol    Mar 31, 04:36 PM    #

10. Sure kids, you can have more diversity offices with new faculty and administrators, various training programs, and separate dorms and student centers. Of course, to pay for all of this we will be raising your tuition and fees by 20% next year. What do you think about it now, kids?

    — J. Ward    Mar 31, 04:46 PM    #

11. Sure, these students are naive, misguided, and contradictory in their policy prescriptions—Bush-leaguers, we wise sophisticated elders might well say. But sarcasm is cheap and easy. Isn’t this a “teachable moment”?—and not just for teaching cynicism?

    — johntee    Mar 31, 05:04 PM    #

12. Ok as a Hampshire student working in the admissions office I feel like I can clarify some misconceptions about our college.

    First off, in response to #7, people of color are NOT as actively recruited as you might think. In fact financial aid is dispropotionately given to white domestic students, most of whom are more able to pay than the students of color or the international students.

    To #5, class is very much part of the discussion, especially when it comes to financial aid and classist assumptions made in the classroom, such as assuming we’re all coming from affluent backgrounds.

    To #3, right now we are focusing on race, since most students agree that that is the most pressing issue. There is in fact a Hampshire Republican group, which is more than welcome to make similar demands. For everyone who thinks Hampshire students are advocating for “separate but equal”, this is an active debate on campus. The goal is not separation, the goal is to provide safe spaces on campus that permeate all aspects of student life, including residential life. If students want to live in a safe space, should they not be given that choice?

    And finally to #s 6 & 10, money is exactly one of the points of negotiation, however the administration as been consistently using it as an excuse not to even begin addressing the concerns of students. That is why the walkout took place, because the current administration has been unwilling to listen to student demands since our often touted openly gay president took that job. Just because he is gay does not mean he is any more receptive to student demands, even when they are about sexual and racial diversity.

    — Jeff    Mar 31, 05:32 PM    #

13. Colorblindness does not exist. It’s easy for you not to understand if you are not someone who’s education (and life) is seriously affected by the daily reality of discrimination. #7- It’s not about improving YOUR life, love. Safe space is not “self segregating” when everywhere else in the world is made for you (white people).
    Just because Hexter is a rich white gay man, does not mean that he understands the complexity of intersectional identities for students of color and international students on the campus.
    But I do agree with you: the current liberal environment is an oppressive environment because of it’s reliance on the above mentioned myth of colorblindness.
    Most of your comments are extremely patronizing and misinformed.
    I would challenge you all to pick up a book on white privilege and decolonize your minds.

    — Avid supporter    Mar 31, 05:34 PM    #

14. More liberal demagogy that is full of racism, sexism, ageism, and otherwise preposterous reasoning that includes, “Think like us or don’t think at all.”

    Thomas Jefferson would look at today’s liberal-dominated academe and have a stroke. Yes, even though he was a man of profound contradictions, his words, “I have sworn upon the altar of God eternal hostility against every from of tyranny over the mind of man,” are nonetheless profoundly applicable to today’s college campuses.

    — Jason    Mar 31, 05:41 PM    #

15. I do not understand why so many people feel they can critique or have the right to critique something they are not there for an have not experienced. Additionally, isn’t this a blog for higher education and learning? These demands supports higher education for students of color who are largely under represented at hampshire and within private institutions in general. Additionally, these demands, to me, look like they not only bring and maintain a student of color presence BUT CREATE SAFE SPACES AND SUPPORT FOR THOSE STUDENTS OF COLOR SO THAT THEY REMAIN, THRIVE AND ARE ABLE TO LEARN AND LIVE WELL IN THIS INSTITUTION AND ARE WILLING TO SUPPORT OTHER PEOPLE OF COLOR IN COMING TO THIS INSTITITUION. Additionally I would like to add that Hampshire college is 87% white. To continue…It doesn’t seem to me to be about “seperate but equal” or “self-segregation” – it’s about providing safe spaces and support for marginalized identities on campus in ways that haven’t been. It appears that Hampshire is “liberal” and “progressive” Hampshire college like most institutions is built on colorblind and/or overtly racist policies. Although a college is “liberal” it still is within a larger context of racism, classism, homophobia and misygoyny. Additionally, progressive and liberal policies take on colorblind approaches and ignore racism leading to more ways to cover up racism and an increase and continuation of issues. Radical policies that call out, actively support students of color, and actively strive to be anti-racist institution is what it seems to be these demands are asking for.. sounds reasonable and on point to me.

    Finally, I am shocked and appalled at this blog and urge everyone to get of their high horses and question where they are coming form in terms of their own identities and also take this as an opportunity to learn. Additionally I would challenge (politely) everyone to read up on white privelage, institutionalized racism, and take this as an opportunity to learn — like i said, this is a blog for “higher education” – supposedly?

    Just because Hexter is gay doesn’t mean he knows or understands racism or his white privelage. It’s very easy to hide from your privelage behind the ways in which you’ve been oppressed. Hexter is still white, male-bodied and rich.

    One last thing… Hampshire college seems like a birth child for the educational experiments and liberalism of the 1960s, right?. However the initial plan for Hampshire was written in the 1958. Additionally Hampshire’s intellectual inflence can be traced to the 1920s General Ed Movement(a white supremacists way of conceptualizing education). Brown vs. Board of education wasn’t until the 1954.

    — J Kahn    Mar 31, 05:47 PM    #

16. I am another Hampshire student reading this blog and I’m also really disappointed at the quality of the comments here. I cannot believe the assumptions that are being made about the thirty years of college history that this event refers to from the four paragraphs above. After reading this short article, is it really fair that we are being characterized as “naive,” and “misguided?” I suggest that you ask questions rather than pretending you know what’s going on, because the truth is much more nuanced, fascinating, terrifying, and important than the things that many of these commenters are saying about it.

    Thanks to Jeff, J Kahn, avid supporter for the support.

    — S. Hunter    Mar 31, 06:05 PM    #

17. Is this a great country or what? This is precisely the reason why our country is going to hell in a hand basket!

    — D. Vine    Mar 31, 07:43 PM    #

18. I thought the original article was funny. . .the responses are even better. Let me predict the future. . .

    75% of these students will grow up, lead productive lives, most will be democrats, and recall these times like their hippy, love child, long hair, dope smoking professors do the 1960s. . .the best days of our lives.

    20% of these students will grow up AND mature, lead productive lives, most will be Republican, and recall these times as kind of a naughty period and be thankful they saw the light.

    Out of the above two groups, at least 50% of the men are just saying whatever they think will get them into some activist girl’s, uh, dorm room.

    The rest. . .the true believers. . .will end up as professors corrupting another generation with their idiotic nonsense about socialism, white privilege, and now what? “Safe Spaces.”

    Just remember this, kiddies. . .the more seriously you take yourself about this crap, the more you sound like a true believer. . .and nobody – take my word for it, nobody puts up with true believers for very long.

    — Bill    Mar 31, 07:43 PM    #

19. Thank you to the Hampshire students who are actually aware of what is going on at Hampshire College. It is truly sad that the people who made offensive and ignorant comments about the students at this school feel that they are above the problems we are facing. While, yes, Hampshire is one of the most liberal schools in the country, institutionalized racism occurs. Students battle with it on a daily basis in their “mods,” in classrooms, and in almost every other space on campus. If it is wrong to demand that Hampshire be actively anti-racist simply because it is already a liberal place, then the initial goals of the school have failed.

    Many of the previous comments that are joking about the walk out lost sight of the greater purpose of the fight. From what I have seen in the past week there has been a huge emphasis on a history of racism that is yet to be tangibly removed from education. If one of the most liberal schools in the country is yet to escape this fate, it MUST be addressed here and now.

    So, for all of those previous posts that mock the action currently happening at Hampshire College, I sincerely hope that you take the time to stop and ask yourself what you can do to be actively anti-racist.

    If you won’t take the time to reflect on this question now, then when will you?

    — Julia F    Mar 31, 08:37 PM    #

20. Bill, you sound like you have some issues to work through. Kindly do that somewhere else.

    And just to get the record straight regarding some of your dumber assertions, most Hampshire students do not live in dorms, socialism is in no way related to the topic, there is no good reason that you should need to attack the concept of safe spaces, and be careful who you call “kiddies”.

    — Jamie    Mar 31, 08:45 PM    #

21. I don’t know, Bill, according to Pew Research center, the “true believers” who call themselves evangelicals make up a third of the Republican base. That number has grown steadily for the past few decades, and I haven’t seen any signs from the right wing that they’ve ever grown tired of putting up with the “good news”.

    But then again, I guess the infallible truth that “If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.” (John 15:6) is a totally realistic and practical way of looking at the world.

    Indeed, such a commitment to that invisible man who lives in the sky and casts you into hellfire for all of eternity when you piss him off is way more mature than demanding that an educational institution put more energy into its students from under-represented cultures and populations.

    What in the world was I thinking being a liberal all this time? I’m definitely converting to those exemplars of critical thinking: the Jesus-freaks.

    But as long as I vote Republican, I have no doubt that plenty of people are willing to put up with me.

    — Matt    Mar 31, 08:51 PM    #

22. These comments are ridiculous.
    Because clearly, it’s impossible to have any sort of institutionalized racism at any place that calls itself a “liberal institution,” right?
    Jesus, white ignorance make me sick sometimes. (and I’m half white.)

    Considering that about 85% of the mods and halls at Hampshire are exclusively white (since 87& of the school is – you guessed it – white), designating halls for minority students to feel more comfortable is wrong? There is a place where white people can feel comfortable. It’s called “everywhere.” Designating a safe space for minority students is a far cry from “separate but equal” – it allows minority students an area to feel more comfortable around their own people.

    I’d like to reiterate a popular quote that’s been going around this campus during action awareness week:

    “When people of color are angry, it is a legitimate anger. It is not their oversensitivity but our lack of sensitivity that causes this communication gap. They are vulnerable to the abuse of racism every day. They are experts on it. White society, and most of us individually, rarely notice racism. It is the anger and actions of people of color that call our attention to the injustice of racism.

    Sometimes that anger comes from an individual person of color who is talking to us. At other times it is the rage of an entire community protesting, bringing legal action, or burning down buildings. Such anger and action is almost always a last resort, a desperate attempt to get our attention when all else fails.

    It is tremendously draining, costly, and personally devastating for people of color to have to rage about racism. They often end up losing their friends, their livelihoods, even their lives. Rather than attacking them for their anger, we need to ask ourselves how many layers of complacency, ignorance, collusion, privilege and misinformation have we put into place for it to take so much outrage to get our attention?”
    -Paul Kivel

    — hm    Mar 31, 09:50 PM    #

23. Really, Hampshire College does not matter

    — George    Mar 31, 10:25 PM    #

24. Bill (Comment #18) tells me a lot more about what/who causes the problem. I can only hope that the comment was a purposeful and mischievous bid to ‘provoke’, rather than the actual thoughts of someone in a responsible position.

    — Zakintosh    Mar 31, 10:29 PM    #

25. “People of Color”: like Asian or Indian?
    “Diversty”: Hasids? Mormons? Naziis? Nativists?
    A black who meets Hampshire’s academic standards will aim for, and be sought by, the Ivies, the Little Three, or other nationally ranked colleges.

    — richard    Mar 31, 11:28 PM    #

26. I have long since ceased to be amaazed that, at minimum, ninety percent of American whites are ignorant of and in denial about systemic racism.

    — Donald Ray Jenkins    Apr 1, 12:01 AM    #

27. While reading the history and politics of this institution, I’m struck by how similar Hampshire College’s radicalized student body, empowered by a weak and vacillating president, is running to the same precipice Antioch College jumped from. This current protest is yet another wave in a continuous controversial tide that surrounds the place.

    Look for a future of tightening budgets, academic defections, and finally layoffs and reorganizations, as those “who pay the bills” refuse to subsidize the carnival.

    — Randy    Apr 1, 12:39 AM    #

28. Racism and cultural bias are part of the world. We as academics need to teach the students the reality of living in modern society. We do not aways get our way and even if things are wrong and suboptimal, it is not always possible to change them immediately. If you perturb a stable suboptimal system, you can get total chaos, which we now appear to have in Iraq.

    Many times a system is the way it is for other reasons than we think. The number of minorities and women with PhDs and top track records (H-indices, number of publicatons, …) when most of the faculty were hired was much different than it is now. In sports, you do not see affirmative action in the NBA or NFL or even on the number and makeup of the scholarships given in men’s football and men’s and women’s basketball. If you did, then there would be many more Asian-American, native American Indians, Hispanic-Americans playing in the NBA and NFL and college football and basketball. Why no complaints by the students at the ACC, Big 10, Big 12, Pac 10, Big East, SEC, MWC and WAC universities. At the Ivy League universities we see much more diversity. It looks like the large state universities have much more discrimination in awarding sports scholarships to Asian-American, Hispanic-Americans and Native American Indians. It is strange how we accept taking the so-called best with respect to sports, but many do not in hiring academics. I for one think we need to provide more access to sports university scholarships to Asian-Americans, Hispanic-Americans and Native American Indians. Just like giving more scholarships to women increase their participation, giving more sports scholarships to Asian-Americans, Hispanic-American and Native American Indian will increase their participation rate. Also wee need some of these groups to be presented as head College football coaches, and men’s and women’s basketball coaches and even a few athletic directors. It is not only university academics and faculty and staff where we need more diversity, but also the make up of the NCAA sports teams which also represent the university. Just look at the NCAA and NIT men’s and women’s college basketball tournaments and ask yourselves, if these sports teams really represent the social, cultural, ethnic and racial makeup of their respective universities. If they do not, then maybe the NCAA and University Presidents and Congress need to address this INSTITUTIONAL RACISM and Ethnocentrism against Asian-Americans, Hispanic-Americans and Native American Indians. We have tried to address it in faculty hires. Now is the time to also do so with respect to sports’ scholarships and hiring of sports’ coaches.

    The hiring of one bad academic who is not really qualified, not only hurts all of the more qualified candidates who did not get the job, but also all of the students who did not get as good an education as they could have.

    Hiring the most qualified candidate is the main reason why many American universities are as good as they are, they have taken/hired the best possible candidate. And in many cases it has not been a white American male, but a Russian or East European scientist or engineer who has very socialist political views. We can have a system where we use race, ethnicity, religion, sex and political views as a basis for hiring and accepting students, or we can accept the top 10 percent of the student from every high school in the State (like they have done in Texas, a law/rule which President Bush introduced when he was governor or Texas, and which has smashing success, with the number of black and Hispanic students increasing, and much more then ever occurred when affirmative action practices were in place). Also we need to increase the diversity of the sports teams and other extra-curricular activities on our college campuses. The 10 percent rule. give full ride scholarships to the top 10 percent of the students in every high school in the state. This ensures that all areas of the state then benefit from their tax dollars being used at the state’s flag ship universities. And only give the universities money (federal and state grants) based on the number (percentage) of the students they graduate and help find jobs and/or start up their own companies. As it is many universities are not really doing their job of providing high quality education and skills which their graduates need to compete effectively and efficiently in a global marketplace. Many of our current academic staffs need to pensioned off and asked to take early retirement, especially those who are unwilling and/or unable to keep up with the changes in education, no longer are globally competitive in a global work force. How can we expect to compete with the EU, India and China which are hiring people trained and accustomed to global and protean careers, when many of our faculty and staff only think locally or within their own university, and do not see the world as a global community, which it now is. Universities use to be places of change and dynamics. I have to now admit, that many universities are the slowest to change and respond to the new global market and changes student bodies, which changing needs and expectation. Societies’ demands and expectations are also changing. We need faculty and staff which respond to the tax payers who are paying their salaries. Otherwise this small group of faculty and staff can bring our whole university system down!!

    — Karl    Apr 1, 03:02 AM    #

29. If the Students of Color and International Students aren’t safe on campus- meaning they are constantley viewed as static, de-ligitimate, and their numbers are falling significantly because their positions within the school are being constantly questioned, then maybe the students have a point. If this is a major issue that RACIAL MINORITIES feel that is a problem, then maybe, JUST MAYBE, the larger White community should be re-evaluating it’s position of “changing” or frankly doing anything since 1968, Oh wait, that little project that wasn’t initiated or met well by the White folks, was it? Students of Color and International Students should be able to voice these types of responses without being shot down so harshly. Seeing these semi-violent reactions makes me think that the United States hasn;t even reached the half-brained, White notion of “tolerance”

    — Morgan    Apr 1, 03:37 AM    #

30. Beautiful.

    — Huh?    Apr 1, 03:55 AM    #

31. I could not believe my eyes when I read this article. George Wallace is laughing in his grave. From Little Rock, to Birmingham, to
    Boston, desegregation was a hard fought battle. Now, we all hear that it doesn’t work and we need to re-segregate for the safety of minority students. Where is this campus in South
    Alabama? It should also be pointed out that the demographic of the University reflects the demographic of the country. Yes, people do have to learn to get along, but segregation is not the answer.

    — ron    Apr 1, 06:38 AM    #

32. Those students need a hobby! Waaaay too much time on their hands.

    — Kenner    Apr 1, 08:49 AM    #

33. Can we please stop writing the following statement as if it’s true for all whites…..“There is a place where white people can feel comfortable. It’s called “everywhere.” ?

    Lots of kids (of all races) go through phases where they do not feel like they belong. It is a myth that every white kid on a college campus is having a great time and is at peace with their lives. Many of them are stressed, depressed, lonely, confused, homesick etc.

    Perpetuating the myth of the happy “life is so easy for me” white person only leads to minorities believing that when they have those same feelings that it’s because of their race.

    Sometimes it is, but many times it’s simply part of the normal human experience of moving from childhood to adulthood.

    — Laura    Apr 1, 09:16 AM    #

34. Too bad these kids aren’t protesting the Iraq war or pushing for colleges to lobby congress to support the Dream Act. Immigration and Iraq are the moral issues of our day, but the youth don’t seem to have caught on yet.

    — Elizabeth    Apr 1, 09:24 AM    #

35. Normally, I just let it go after a comment or two. . .but there’s so much here that needs answering!
    Jamie – Since you don’t agree with me, you would prefer that I not comment here? And regarding my comment about men wishing to get into an activist girl’s dorm room. . .does the word “euphemism” mean anything to you? No good reason to attack “safe spaces?” Sorry. . .segregation by any other name still stinks – sounds like a darn good reason to me! Here’s a factoid for you. . . only racists promote racial segregation. And I’ll call any group of Kiddies by that name whenever I wish, thanks for the warning.

    Matt – Apparently you were sick the day they talked about Eric Hoffer. Use Google, then Amazon, and do some reading.

    Zakintosh – I should hope that my comments provoke thought, but the underlying belief is that these kiddies at Hampshire have an awful lot of growing up to do. They clearly don’t have any memory of, nor have they even read about the civil rights movement, about the struggles in the ‘50s and 60’s that lead to the permanent demise of Jim Crow. They refuse to acknowledge the tremendous progress we have made over the last half century. Are there racists in the world? Of course. But they are almost universally rejected and their attitudes are certainly not reflected by the overwhelming majority of Americans of all races.

    J Kahn. The ideas you are promulgating exist for one reason only – to perpetuate racial division in this country. Race-baiting and professional victimhood are more than a cottage industry in this country and to acknowledge the progress lessens the revenue. It makes for wonderful demagoguery when selling racial snake oil to the alienated and social misfits, or to rich white kids who feel guilty that they have so much and others have less. . .but it’s no different in its attempted effect than Lester Maddox and his pick handles and it ranks at about the same level from a morality point of view.

    Though I probably disagree with her policy positions, Elizabeth is right. There are lots of issues today that are extraordinarily important to the future of this country. Discrimination based on race, etc, is something we should always be wary of. . .we should keep moving towards a real, no-kidding color blind society. But stirring the race pot with a lot of imaginary crap is a waste of time when there are so many critical issues to be decided.

    — Bill    Apr 1, 09:52 AM    #

36. “It’s not about improving YOUR life, love. Safe space is not “self segregating” when everywhere else in the world is made for you (white people). “ —- As a Latin American, I am tired of people using victimization and ethnic pity to promote their cause. I worked in Higher Education for a number of years and meet plenty of “White People” who have gone through life with financial struggles making ends meet. I am a graduate student pursuing multiple degrees. My wife is an engineering. We succeed because we made the choice to succeed by establishing and maintaining social and corporate networks with people of all nationalities. If you believe that someone is holding you back with their ignorance, move on and connect with others.

    I believe that college is a place for people to prepare for their future. Essentially, an employment stepping stone. As an administrator, I would encourage students of different colors and preferences to
    reach out to their communities and support those who are within. I believe that forcing administrators to accept certain conditions is oppressive in itself and bear
    certain traits of nazism

    — Frank    Apr 1, 09:55 AM    #

37. This conversation has gotten ridiculous, as this was supposed to be an informative article regarding a movement of students. What we must remember as faculty and staff of universities is students have the right to protest if they feel uncomfortable with situations and the atmosphere at THEIR university. Most staff and faculty go in to higher education in order to teach and support students. How is all this rambling and degradation and attacking of other higher education administrators helping the cause.
    Students have the right to protest and if you feel that they are not going about it in the correct way, take the time to educate them and help them to see a way that will assist their cause.
    Some of the requests that they ask for are not far off the mark. They can be completed. You need to have an open mind when you are working with a diverse population. And I use the term of diverse in the sense of race, religion, color, sex, gender, and social economic class. Just because you think you are fine where you are does not mean the person next to you is comfortable with it.
    Open your mind before you open your mouth (or in this case, a comment box) I am a proud Latina with my roots in Spain and I am proud to say I am a woman of color, as I stand for all that these students do.

    — CW    Apr 1, 11:10 AM    #

38. Sorry to have implied that the Hampshire students are all naive and misguided—I should have said “Even if the students are naive and misguided. . . this should be a teachable moment,” not an occasion for self-satisfied older adults—especially educators—to congratulate themselves on their “maturity” by making fun of the students. In a very fundamental sense the students are right about the big issue, no matter the details. Even in The CHE, the house organ of academia, no issue gathers more smart-ass “look at those silly people talking about liberal trivia” commentary than any issue involving race. These students recognize that unresolved racial issues are at the heart of American culture, and the commentary of their elders only confirms this knowledge.

    — johntee    Apr 1, 11:16 AM    #

39. Great comment John

    — CW    Apr 1, 11:34 AM    #

40. The fact is that most people who have commented here do not go to Hampshire and are not people of color. How can one advocate action they see as fit or unfit without having either of these experiences?

    — Pm    Apr 1, 11:43 AM    #

41. This is not a liberal nor a conservative issue. It is simply misguided. I am unabashedly liberal and I, like many of my fellow liberals, do not support segregation. It should be recalled that the more conservative among us pushed separatist racial laws and couldn’t stomach gays sleeping in the army barracks with the “straight” soldiers .
    The designation of “conservative” or “liberal” does not automatically denote enlightenment.

    — Shaiya    Apr 1, 12:25 PM    #

42. Wow, so CW traces her roots to Spain and is a “woman of color”. Now there’s a stretch of prostituted historical fact.

    Reminds of a White German woman from Argentina I had the misfortune to encounter on one Ivy campus. Comically, she could always be counted on to writhe (as if on cue) at every patronizing campus “diversity” gathering, where she would EVEN cry about her oppression at the hands of the White man.

    Where is our German of color today? Married to a Norwegian sociologist and living part of the year in Oslo and the other half in Vermont, where no doubt her fake “woman of color” political smokescreen is not likely to be sneezed on by the local chipmunks.

    I guess her “woman of color charade” wasn’t up for living in Haiti, where REAL OPPRESSED “people of color” just happen to be OPPRESSED by their own people.

    Oh, Buffy would you freshen her “Margarita”. Just chalk another one up for campus frauds and the infestation of people of color race games.

    These Hampshire students have quite a disgraceful legacy or “race” games to import to their campus.

    — Gina    Apr 1, 12:31 PM    #

43. I just find it comical that the people here who ridicule the students’ need for “safe spaces,” like most white Americans, probably live in self-segregated white communities and when asked why they chose that neighborhood say, “It’s safe.”

    — Nancy G    Apr 1, 12:35 PM    #

44. Sounds like they just want the good quads. Having knowledge of Hampshire as an undergrad, I know some quads (dorms) are better than others. This sounds as if it is a shameless attempt to have first choice of the quads.

    — Evan    Apr 1, 12:41 PM    #

45. Nancy G., the reason we ridicule the students’ need for “safe spaces” is because it really means a place of ideological conformity where their silly beliefs go unchallenged. That is readily apparent by all the Hampshire students who have come over to this blog post to throw around charges of “white privilege” and “institutional racism.” It is just regurgitation of the talking points drummed into their heads by race-hustling faculty and perpetuated by the students’ older peers.

    — J. Ward    Apr 1, 01:42 PM    #

46. I think CW (#40) and of course, Mo’s comment on ’68, have been the most constructive. No one needs to parade out their cultural history in order to speak with authority on this unless they actually go to Hampshire. I don’t see a “race” check box on this form, so prefacing every post with one’s identity only makes it easier for people like Gina to create snarky posts.
    Hampshire Students have a right to be angry. Wanting something more out of life than what you are given is a natural impulse for everyone, so naturally when one has a population of people who are given everything living alongside people who are given nothing, this discourse emerges. I applaud the courage and passion of these Hampshire students and I hope they get what they want. Then the next time some douche bag from admin. steps on my rights here at my state school, I have some inspiration from which to work.
    Also, GMH, “people of color” in this context, is the phrase adopted by Hampshire students themselves because it most effectively illustrates the sharp contrast between the treatment of students who are white, upper class versus those who aren’t. The Basque country is lovely this time of the year, if you’ve never been I recommend a vacation so you can loosen up.
    Everyone gets a load of BS dropped on them by society every day. For these Hampshire students that BS has grown increasingly more putrid in recent years, so they are standing up and saying “All We Want.” It’s not like every white student in the country has the good life, but at Hampshire, one of the most expensive schools in the country, if not the most, white privilege has gone unchecked because of the power of the dollar. Maybe if we stop infantilizing these co-eds and unify, we can start working on the Iraq war and immigration like Elizabeth suggested. I don’t think we should live in a world like a Coke commercial (corporate sponsers for peace?) by I think humanity is ready to start treating each other with some dignity and understanding rather than glossed-over color blindness that got us into this mess.

    — Abs    Apr 1, 02:03 PM    #

47. I’ve noticed several postings to the effect that if you don’t go to Hampshire or if you are not a person of color, then you really can’t authoritatively comment on this issue (see post #43, for example, but there are others). Okay, for those who hold that position, make sure that you clam up whenever the question of the Iraq war comes up — unless, that is, that you’ve been in Iraq and that you are (or were) a grunt who served in combat there. Having served in combat in a previous conflict, I try to listen carefully when my anti-war friends go on and on about what’s happening in Iraq — because even though they have no clue about a lot of what they’re talking about, this is their country also and it’s their tax dollars that are paying for the war and their friends who are being hurt, etc… And so it goes for a white male who’s never set foot on Hampshire College — we don’t deserve to be dismissed out of hand, but do deserve a fair consideration of our point of view.

    Thanks!

    — Bob    Apr 1, 02:57 PM    #

48. In response to Evan’s post:

    Dear Sir, you obviously have no idea what you are talking about, there are no ‘quads’ at Hampshire . I’m not really sure what aim you were trying to achieve here, other than further accusing and confusing. All the patronizing and insulting terms that are being loosely tossed around in relation to Hampshire students..“kiddies”, “pathetic” etc do nothing but make older, self satisfied and apparently quite ignorant commentors look defensive and mean. Your implication that this movement is about living in the better “quads” is preposterous. All housing at Hampshire sucks. It’s nice that the internet gives you the cushiony anonymity to be rude and ignorant.

    — Eva Claycomb    Apr 1, 03:54 PM    #

49. Wow, if Hampshire College was such a bastion of “institutionalized racism” and the students face oppression “daily”, why did those students want to go there in the first place?

    — Rick    Apr 1, 03:57 PM    #

50. Yet another illustration that nothing has the power to divide than “diversity”.

    That’s what happens when a spelling and pronunciation with no particular meaning dictates what people are allowed to think and say.

    — Ken    Apr 1, 04:08 PM    #

51. Queer dorms.
    Queer cafeteria.
    Queer bathrooms.
    Queer classrooms.
    Queer practice rooms.
    Queer bicycle stands.
    Queer library.
    Queer gym.
    Queer drinking fountains.
    Queer swimming pools.
    Queer vending machines.
    Queer student union.
    Queer arm bands.
    Pink Queer arm bands.

    — marci    Apr 1, 04:22 PM    #

52. I was going to add ageneral comment, but too many others beat me to the punch. It just occured to me that Amherst Ma. is coming up to the tenth Anniversary of the Geddell Library takeover at Umass. I was a grad. student and Public safety officer at Umass, and was involved in the entire mess. Needless to say, the complaints of ten years ago were the same as today at hampshire. the results were negligable at best, and redicilous at worst. the only thing missing is the Hale-Bopp comet, and the Heavens Gate Mass suicide.

    — Dan    Apr 1, 07:37 PM    #

53. First: I am not a ‘person of color’…I am transparent. It’s a little-known genetic condition, but oh how I long for a color, any color…even caucasion coloring.

    But, to the point: it’s certainly not laughable to attempt to effect change, and, ‘Elizabeth’, there are certainly more issues that need attention than Iraq and Immigration. How about poverty, illiteracy, HIV, and the environment?

    What is a bit laughable, honestly, is that the students protested when the president did not “immediately” grant them all of their demands. This shows either A) a desire to protest regardless, or B) a real lack of insight into how colleges work. NO president is going to get a petition handed to them, page through it, and say “OKAY! Let’s do it!” on the spot, even if that president agrees with the ‘demands’.

    Finally, while the segregated dorms is a bit extreme (what happens when you don’t have enough ‘queer-identified’ students to fill the dorm…you have a whole dorm for 10 people?), the more dubious request is for “Anti-Oppression Training”. The truth is that while white privilege and systemic racism are a fact in this country, it’s also true that most white people and men never actively, individually, oppress anyone. What you want is some kind of training that will instruct the faculty and staff on how to avoid oppression. What you’ll get is another training session (faculty/staff members out there, how many training sessions a year do you already sit though?) that people will sleep or coast through, being told to do things they already do.

    But hey, seriously, bravo for trying to fix problems, folks. More power to you.

    — Tom    Apr 1, 08:20 PM    #

54. This is starting to get annoying. I had no intention of commenting but I feel that these comments call for me to do so. I am not a student at Hampshire, but I do attend one of the other colleges in the area and have been more or less “exposed” to similar problems on my campus. Let’s be clear (and any Hampshire student involved in the walk out is more than welcome to correct me), the demands made were probably more than open to being tweaked a little bit. There is always room for compromise and I feel that many of the comments on this blog are jumping to the conclusion that the demands of these Hampshire Men and Women (no, not “kiddies”) were set in stone. There is a trend on this blog of taking this idea of demands being set in stone and using it for an excuse to attack the cause of these students. What example do you seasoned adults set for us when you ridicule us rather than then support us, OR if you do not agree, attempt to educate us?

    A HALL is not an entire dorm, and there is nothing wrong with CHOOSING to live somewhere you feel best suits you in your endeavor for higher education because, YES, in the real world HOME is where you should have the right to feel safest, and the illusion of home is what these dorms try to create. And even if you are a minority working in a predominantly white environment, at the end of the day you’re retiring to an environment you feel safe in. So, what’s the problem with a designated hall for students of color or class? In my experience in the valley, and as a facilitator of race and class dialogues on campus, there are but too many white students who live in racially segregated neighborhoods or have never encountered more than one person of color from each respect ethnic group in their schooling…how is that any different from these desired halls?

    This conversation of “safe space” being deemed as self-segregation only proves that you do NOT know what it’s like to be seen only as a color. You DO NOT know what it is like to be defined as “the angry black girl”, or to be told that racial issues are a played out topic. The fact that you cannot simply respect the “need” for safe spaces is telling of your inability to comprehend what it is like to be 1 of 84 African Americans, 1 of 250 Asians (and then we have to break it down in an even more technical manner) , 1 of 113 Hispanics, 1 of 52 (if even) Native Americans, or 1 of 200 international students on a campus of almost 3000; When you’re the only “person of color” in a Multiracial Studies class, or whatever , and people look to you to speak for an entire ethnicity or race like you hold all the answers; When public safety feels it is appropriate to address you and your friends with “Hola” when they encounter you… the pressure is immense and the need to feel, yes, SAFE becomes more and more apparent. AND it is not a matter of black versus white. It is an issue facing many underrepresented students of color be it Asian, Hispanic, Native American, Multi racial, International, or those of Pan-African descent.

    And finally, to the so called “wise” adults: What steps are you taking to ensure the “realistic” education of my generation? Your sarcasm, degradation, ridicule, and outright insults make YOU the PATHETIC generation, not us. Everyone is more than entitled to his or her own opinion but when you’re obviously GETTING OFF on attacking the younger generation, there is a problem. There should be some pride in students for taking a stand whether or not you believe in the cause. And if you’re not for the cause, there is no need for you to cowardly attack it.

    — NM    Apr 1, 10:55 PM    #

55. Ship em all off to Africa with $10 so they can see what the real world is like.

    Obviously ‘education’ has achived anything but.

    Preening narcissists all.

    — what the    Apr 1, 11:32 PM    #

56. GM: That’s the other sort of problems I have heard about with diversity training. I have seen it handled well, mind you. And I haven’t heard of anything before as bad as your experience. But, let’s face it: mandatory behavior modification has always been a bad idea. (My being forced to write “I will not talk during class” 100 times in the 6th grade didn’t change me a bit :) It’s sad that Madison got that way, though. I am a Whitewater alum, and I always liked my visits to Madison and my interactions with the folks there.

    NM: “A HALL is not an entire dorm”

    SORRY FOR THE CONFUSION, IN MANY PARTS OF THE COUNTRY THE TERMS ARE SYNONYMOUS, SO MAYBE YOU SHOULD CALM DOWN A BIT and stop ‘yelling’.

    No, I have never been referred to as the ‘angry black girl’, as I tend to be the opposite of all three of those adjectives. I have, however, been referred to as a ‘white guy who can’t understand the plight of the minority’. Have you had that experience? (Seeing that you have foisted that experience upon me here…)

    Let me ask you: would you rather be ‘the angry black girl’ in a multi-racial hall, or would you rather live in the hall described as ‘where the black kids live’?

    That many people in our world choose to segregate themselves according to race, as you have referred to, does not justify segregation as a good idea. Popular opinion is often a poor guideline.

    So, two questions:

    1) A ‘dorm’, here in the midwest, is a housing building…also called a ‘hall’. What exactly are ‘dorms’ and ‘halls’ out there, if they aren’t the same thing?

    2) Why would be inappropriate for campus security to say ‘hola’ to students who, I am assuming, are latino? Even if they were born in the US, why is this a bad thing? What’s the motivation? Are the security people, just maybe, trying to relate to people?

    — Tom    Apr 1, 11:44 PM    #

57. <sigh> To clarify. . .There are men and women in Iraq and Afghanistan fighting to protect our country. There are men and women stationed all around the world prepared to do so on a moment’s notice. There are men and women in colleges and universities all over this country who are working their butts off getting an education and preparing to contribute in the working world, as well as helping those less fortunate through service projects. There are men and women working in this country in thousands of occupations, contributing to the economy, the culture, and the growth of the country, of themselves, and perhaps their children. Men and women living and working together everyday. . .

    Then there are the Kiddies who thrust “demands” into the face of a college president and call for a walkout when what they demand is not immediately given. Demanding segregated dorms and counting up how many people are this color and how many are that and claiming only to be safe with one’s own kind. That is the action of a two year old, not a man or a woman. . Claiming that “no one but me knows how bad it is” or “you’ll NEVER understand cause you’re not like me!” is the action of an immature, self absorbed, narcissistic child, not a man or a woman.

    Maybe some will give you credit for “at least trying to do something.” Sorry. Most won’t. You have to EARN respect. The actions and positions of the Hampshire students as related in the news, on their Facebook site, and with the arguments made here on this blog do not merit respect. They are the actions and positions of. . .Kiddies. Sorry if that hurts your thin-skinned, humorless little feelings. . .but that’s perception YOU have created. Kiddies.

    — Bill    Apr 2, 05:42 AM    #

58. I think the studants had the right to fight for what they want! Thoungh the part that they put a pubble into the vase was great. So rock on studants! From a who cares.

    — Rose Flower    Apr 2, 08:59 AM    #

59. Bill: “You have to EARN respect.”

    Trying to do something good does earn respect. At least from reasonable people. Do you respect only those people who succeed at what they try, Bill? You only respect winning candidates, only students who get good grades, no matter how hard they work, only the fastest horse in the race?

    Sorry, but that’s crap. Jaded, pseudo-experienced crap.

    I don’t agree with everything these folks were trying to do, and I probably wouldn’t have even way back in college. But to say that trying doesn’t earn respect is absurd. And, based on my experiences, it’s not true.

    — Tom    Apr 2, 09:04 AM    #

60. I love the “safe spaces” excuse. Because I know that at Hampshire College, one of the most ultra-liberal schools in the most liberal state in the country, it is really “unsafe” for “people of color” otherwise – why just yesterday I read about the lynching tree on the campus green and the local KKK cross burnings – not. This has nothing to do with actual “safety” but is all about the ability of minorities to have a Rev. Wright -like space in which they can call each other “niggah” and spout hatred of others (whites, Jews, Asians, etc.) without fear of embarrassment or contradiction. Words and a way of thinking can and do lead to action sometimes. The white Christian majority in this country has (to a sometime absurd level – see “niggardly”) had to learn to hold its tongue and blatantly racist/sexist/homophobic, etc. remarks are nowadays off limits and on the whole we are better off for it. So the last thing we need is to create a “safe space” where such remarks (even if coming from members of an “oppressed minority”) are again “safe” to make. If this is what “safety” means, I don’t want to be safe.

    — Jack D.    Apr 2, 12:47 PM    #

61. Please. There was a noose hung in the quad just this last october and there are still numerous reports of overt racism. Don’t comment on what you don’t know about, Jack. This is not coming from nowhere, all of this is in response to the administration and the student body.

    — Man    Apr 2, 05:58 PM    #

62. thanks Man. the administration took over 5 months to respond to the noose incident. if that doesn’t say anything…then go back to George Wallace.

    — Morgan    Apr 2, 09:27 PM    #

63. To all above:

    I’m not going to take the time or energy or text to respond to each and every comment that raised a response in my mind; frankly, I’ve got more important work to do. Yes, more important – I’m a student, and my education is my focus here at college, not the intricacies of racial relations.

    I’m a Hampshire Student. I’m also a student in multiple positions of leadership on campus – I’ve had many personal discussions with the majority of the campus administrators regarding race, class, and social dynamics on campus.

    Some facts:

    -When Ralph Hexter, our openly gay College President who is the only openly gay AND legally married college president in the country held a campus event in celebration of his union with his partner, a number of the students in the queer student group that is closely affiliated with the organizers of the walkout last week defaced the area that he chose to held his reception in, touting his white, male, upper-class status as making his status as an openly gay, married man (and college president) invalid. They targeted his ‘white privilege’ and effectively said that his minority status in his profession and his life as an openly gay man was invalid.

    -We have permanent identity based housing on campus. We also continually have issues filling this housing. Our “queer/queer friendly” hall is routinely under-filled, despite preferential housing being given to self-identified queer students who request it. In addition (and this is an entirely different issue) in our relatively small entering classes, we rarely have enough students of color to fill a hall, let alone enough students of color who request this living space. The only way we can fill a “students of color” hall every year is to house EVERY incoming student of color in this hall. This becomes segregation, not a safe space.

    At Hampshire we do not have the luxury of a 900 million dollar endowment, and we cannot afford empty beds. Our racial policies are perhaps underdeveloped, but much discrimination on campus is imagined. In a faculty meeting on Tuesday, a group of the organizers of the demands walked in and requested a guarantee of safety – both personal and academic – from the faculty and administration because they felt targeted. As was later revealed, this feeling of targeting was based on two things: the first being that these students were not completing their academics and felt as if they were in danger of not completing their classes this semester – at Hampshire, this puts your future enrollment in potential jeopardy. The second source of the feeling of targeting was that our public safety department responded to a noise complaint, at 2 am, in a public space and told the students to disperse. The organizers felt as if public safety responded faster than normal and that this was because they were under surveillance.

    I think the underlying sense of the demands on Hampshire’s Campus is complicated. Most students, staff, faculty, and administrators support and understand the underlying message – that students of color want to feel safe, valued, and integral to our community. However, the majority of students, at least, feel as if the demands are too personal, ridiculous, or unrelated to racial policy/racism on campus.

    Some examples of ridiculous demands:

    -Financial aid for students of color is guaranteed to not decrease during their time here, provided there is no significant change in financial status.

    -That students of color with financial holds on their accounts (ie outstanding balances in excess of 1000$) be allowed to register for courses and for the next semester without first consulting with financial services.

    -That 4 new faculty in Color/Queer studies be hired (it should be noted that Social Science is very highly staffed, where as other aspects of the school such as theater, science, computer science, writing, photography, and video are all chronically understaffed)

    -That we specifically hire a woman of color for our health services department (this is illegal).

    -Financial Divestment from Israel (sounds like racism/nationalism to me!).

    There are a number of other unrealistic demands or demands that promote racism or give students of color preferential treatment to the rest of – indeed the majority of – the student body.

    I desire to see a college in which students of color are treated no differently than other students – I think that Hampshire is relatively close. Our policies could be improved, but overall there is little to no preferential treatment of white students over students of color that I have seen on campus, and over the last two months I’ve been heavily involved in conversations and debates on the state of race/racism at Hampshire. Many of Ralph Hexter’s responses to the demands are reasonable, realistic, and thoughtful, and they were all fully rejected by the group organizers with input from a small percentage of the student body.

    The outcome of the Action Awareness Week Demands have been as follows:

    -Alienation of a number of white allies
    -Reduction of the efficacy of the college as an education institution
    -Students bypassing the system instead of working within it (as a student who works for change within the system extensively, I find this offensive) and degrading student-administration relationships
    -A sense of fear/frustration on campus from individuals not actively involved in the protests. We have been harassed, harangued, and generally heckled as we walk across campus to attend the classes we AREN’T skipping and to use campus resources in pursuit of our education.

    I will leave you all with a quote that was directed at me by one of the students of color actively involved with these demands. This was said about two months ago, in a discussion about how to effectively discuss and address race/racism on campus as a community. It was said in response to a comment that said any discussions on race needed to be a safe space for all students regardless of color or nationality, or a constructive discussion would never be able to take place.

    What was said in response was “You white folk don’t always need to feel safe. Its time for you to feel unsafe. I feel unsafe every day, this is our[students of color] conversation, and we’re the only ones who need to feel safe in this discussion”.

    This attitude is what alienates white allies and makes us feel as if the ‘institutional racism’ that is so touted is simply an imagined product of some deep-seated hatred for any white person, and their assumed privilege. I don’t know about you, but I’ve worked since I was 14, worn hand-me-down clothing my whole life, and at various points in my life my family ate primary rice and lentils for months on end because that’s all we could afford. I don’t see where me being white gave me a lot of privilege here. I’ve worked hard to get into college, to pay for my education, and to earn everything I have. So don’t label me privileged. Thanks.

    I’ve heard a lot of talk about the fact that reverse racism does not exist, however the blatant hostility and anger towards anyone who is white and not visibly involved in the anti-racist movement on campus is clear and palatable from many individuals on campus. We are being labeled as racist simply for focusing on our studies and refusing to walk out of classes that cost us, per meeting, approximately $200. I for one do not have an extra $1600 dollars with which to replace a weeks worth of my skipped classes and lost education.

    If that rage and labeling is not racism, or at the least racial profiling of white students, I don’t know what else to call it.

    Like I said, I’m in college to learn. Protest if you want to, and I hope you get a campus that is completely colorblind out of it, however I am here to learn, and I’m hear for 4 years. I’m focusing my time (and thus my limited money) on the education I came to Hampshire to get.

    — Notpmoc    Apr 3, 02:07 AM    #

64. In regards to Notpmoc’s comment:

    I’m also a student at Hampshire – and I agree with everything you said.

    Having someone shout at me with a megaphone and give me angry glares when I go about my day isn’t how one goes about convincing others.

    I hope this all dies down soon, every year spring marks a surge in angry students – but this year it is particularly bad.

    — Chris    Apr 3, 03:31 AM    #

65. Ex-Hampster here: I’m not going to throw my support behind either side of the debate here because I have issues with the rhetoric and tactics of both. But I would like to point out, in regards to #71, that the demands in relation to financial aid were made not on behalf of students of color specifically, but were demanded of the office of financial aid on behalf of all Hampshire students. Although this particular demand surfaced during Action Awareness Week, it was not, to my understanding, brought up or voiced with any kind of anti-white or just-for-the-students-of-color sentiment.

    — Dee    Apr 3, 04:26 AM    #

66. Pardon me, that’s #69, April 3, 2:07 AM.

    — Dee    Apr 3, 04:27 AM    #

67. In response to 71:
    The demand was inherently linked to demands of anti-racism. It was included on the list of 17 demands from SOURCE of the administration that were designed to make the college actively “anti-racist”. The tone of the request when discussed with individuals on campus is that they felt they were in danger of losing financial aid because of their student of color status.

    Upon review, the CURRENT wording does not include ‘students of color’ in that demand, although I believe it may have previously.

    Point being that either the demand is centered around race and financial aid, or it should NOT be on the list in the first place. Much like the demand to divest from Israel, modifying financial aid policy is NOT something that should be included in demands to make Hampshire actively anti-racist UNLESS there is observable, communicated evidence that students of color are preferentially LOOSING financial aid (or white students are preferentially receiving it). Besides, Hampshire offered to audit their financial aid department (no small undertaking) to insure color-blind awarding of financial aid was occurring and the SOURCE (cultural groups on campus) groups REJECTED that solution.

    The college is trying to work with these students, and they are being belligerent and unrealistic. The chance to make some significant change on campus is being rapidly lost as the SOURCE groups who are demanding change refuse to negotiate with the President in any way except to say that full and complete compliance to their every demand is the ONLY way any of the President’s solutions will be accepted by the SOURCE community.

    — Notpmoc    Apr 3, 11:51 AM    #

68. Abs (#49) Wrote…

    “people of color” in this context, is the phrase adopted by Hampshire students themselves because it most effectively illustrates the sharp contrast between the treatment of students who are white, upper class versus those who aren’t.”

    If ANY student, faculty, administrator or alumni at Hampshire takes even a nano-second to consider the absurdity of this cheap and inane “diversity doubletalk”, it is time to throw a chain across the main entrance to the campus and hang a sign on it that reads…

    “A College Once Existed Here; Applications Now being Accepted For SAFE Flea Market Stalls”

    What a crock of delusional diversity clap-trap. This is just appalling and if this statement about the new & improved breed of “people of color”, makes sense to you, it is time to turn-in your driver’s license, hand-over your checkbook to your next of kin and check into the nursing home. WOW!

    “People of Color” IS a RACIST term that reduces people to skin color and the last time I looked that view of others was at the VERY core of the definition RACISM.

    And just an aside, in my freshman writing seminar recently, I encountered a young woman from Japan crying. I asked her what the problem was. She responded that the night before in the “mandatory diversity fireside chat” that she was FORCED to attend by the Hall “Allies”, she was accused of being brainwashed by “duh White man” when she took offense to the term on the grounds that she and NO ONE in her country called themselves this term and she wanted to know why Americans were calling her by that term.

    The “leader” and “Head Ally” of this psycho-political brainwash and abuse responded…“BECAUSE WE SAID SO”.

    How “inclusive”, “tolerant”, “diverse” and oh so “anti-racist”.

    When WE as Americans have the AUDACITY to redefine the identities of ENTIRE countries, continents, and hemispheres of people WITHOUT even considering THEIR views we should NEVER again ask why “they” hate us.

    Ultimately this woman and 10s of thousands of other international students will return to their home countries and we should not be surprised that they will share these UGLY memories.

    — Grey    Apr 3, 04:59 PM    #

69. about halfway up the page, nancy said, “I just find it comical that the people here who ridicule the students’ need for ‘safe spaces,’ like most white Americans, probably live in self-segregated white communities and when asked why they chose that neighborhood say, ‘It’s safe.’”

    i want to thank her.
    i also want to say, is it wrong that these students, who are forking out an arm and a leg each year to attend this “liberal institution” as it had been called, want to feel comfortable and want their school to be as good as it can be? do they not have the right to tell their administration that they are not happy with the way the school is using the small fortune they pay? why should they just accept that compared to other places, hampshire is a pretty good school, instead of fighting to make it the best? racism exists. if they think they know how to make it better in this one small situation, then i commend them for trying.

    — maya    Apr 5, 07:56 PM    #

70. What I find comical is comedy. Politically liberal folks trying to out-liberal one another is a comedic endeavor to be certain. What I would like to discuss in this forum is:
    1. What the heck is going on.
    2. Who put these people in charge of anything.
    3. Why Americans are still fighting among ourselves and ignoring the threat of 100 million irrational people who have sworn to kill us without regard for color, gender, or sexual preference. Hmmm? Will someone please answer this question for me? Anyone?

    — Arthur H. Rankin    Apr 7, 11:25 AM    #

71. To #29, Weber grills? I’m going to get a Viking, much more expensive.

    To everybody else, there are some great points here and some horrible points. I’ll address a couple since I have that whole educational institution thing to attend to.

    The comments attacking people who say “people of color” and how that is offensive to them? I for one am very offended at being called a white man. White doesn’t describe me, I’m a german-scot. One of my good friends is black, he goes off the wall at hearing anybody say nigger in any context. I can understand after talking to him the reasons why. However he would call me nightlight and stuff. I decided to get horribly mad; why is one right but the other not. He has even commented that everybody on our hall freshman year took a step back when they saw he was black except for me who didn’t even skip a beat.

    So now its a politically correct issue, are people white, caucasian (which is a terrible misnomer, I am not from Caucasia.), european-americans or what? Is someone with dark skin black, negro, person of colour, african-american (what part of Africa is your family from? I have no idea), or what? So it seems that people of color may be the Hampshire College area vernacular for a politically correct way of saying a black person (Atlanta, GA PC way which I’ll continue to use throughout my answer). In some black communities, typically undereducated, young, and economically disadvantaged, “Nigger” is the pc term. What do black Hampshire College students call themselves? How are they to distinguish themselves from the “white” students as to make their demands?

    I never mentioned the queer thing, but I personally think queer is a derogatory term. It’s also another word that the meaning is going to be ruined. Gay used to mean happy, in the 20’s I would hope I was gay (happy) most of the time. Now in the 2000’s I don’t want to be gay (homosexual) any time (Ever tried plugging a male USB plug into a male USB plug? Hint: don’t expect to be using either USB device anytime soon. Here’s an experiment for you guys*, turn off your electricty to a room, go in remove the faceplate of one of the electric sockets, adapt a plug so it becomes a male socket (the prongs facing out), turn on the electricity and go try to plug something in. Now while I say this, I also know that some people are hedonistic and the freud’s statements now appear not to be right. So its a tradeoff between pleasure and a family, you can’t have both (Before I hit a tangent this is a whole other issue).

    So those that make the decision to be homosexual should be allowed to if they choose, and they should not be oppressed. Its a hard decision so they do need a safe space to make that decision, the safe space shouldn’t be encouraging either way. It should be a place where students can escape from abuse (depression from hazing is terrible from personal experience). Also a argument against homosexual housing is heterosexual housing. They don’t place girls in guys rooms or have co-ed floors in dorms usually. Thats because then fun stuff or inappropriate stuff starts to happen. Then it causes drama when emotions get involved and such (true everybody should abstain but lets be realistic here please). So really there isn’t a solution here but to just randomly house people with some realistic segregation. Smokers should room with smokers, early risers should be early risers and so on.

    I want to keep writing because I haven’t finished all my thoughts all the way through or introduced other points here. I’ll summarize my reaction to the article, I’ll back up my reasoning upon request. I also will leave some suggestion to those that desire diversity in their university/institution/college.

    I think segregrated housing is ridiculous, from my experience as a department of housing staff, residence hall association president and resident in on-campus housing, I love the multi-cultural (note: cultural) roommates and neighbors I have. My best friends are those I met freshman year on my hall who are Cuban, American Black (no knowledge of heritage before US), Israeli, Russian and Me. I’ve also had a homosexual, catholic, indian born, irish-catholic raised college republican chairman roommate (if that doesn’t spin your head). Housing for homosexuals I addressed earlier, you do that and I get a girl as my roommate (Republican view: she’s to clean, cook and willingly provide sex when needed without a condom; Liberal view: I, the male, should be cooking, cleaning, supporting her education, barefoot and pregnant)

    “Anti-oppression training for staff” Good idea as long as it doesn’t promote either side. It should stress awareness of difference and respect for others rights. If someone wants the right to hate and a christian enforced country tell them to see how life is for a muslim in a muslim enforced country.

    Black woman in health services? Black women are physiologically and psychologically no different from white women. Having male and female staff in a clinic is a good idea, there are definate differences between women and men. If I was a woman raped by a man, I’d prefer a woman doing the examination. If I was a woman and I have problems with my menstration I’d like a female doctor who knows what they are talking about. If I had a sore teste, I’d like a woman to massage it (jk kinda), I mean I’d like. . . who am I kidding. So actually I just stated that women doctors are really what we need with their ability to relate to women and provide guys the nuturing, maternal feeling. So race does not enter into this anywhere. Clinics should have at least one female doctor basically, thats understandable.

    Multi-cultural staff in Multi-cultural offices don’t promote all cultures, they promote their culture on a campus and aren’t receptive to european culture typically. Go try and start a European-American rights group on a campus, good luck. I think this is nuts, if you have to choose races for a multi-cultural office first that person is an idiot. You should choose cultures for a multi-cultural office. You should have all cultures represented or protected.

    I don’t know what the other demands were, I’m sure some of them were reasonable at some point and others not reasonable. Making a demand that the list of grievances and corrections be adopted immediately is beyond reasonable. Its a college, it takes time, meetings, logistics and funding concerns. One good side of this walk out for the rest of the country is we get to address some issues have discussions like this. For the school, this is terrible. If I was a student at that school, first of all I don’t even have a major, second of all it already costs 40k USD per year, these demands mean I’ll be paying even more for someone with black skin to go for free and get added benefits.

    So a tip to everybody that wants to attend a multi-cultural educational institution, apply to a multi-cultural educational institution. If you don’t think Hampshire college is diverse enough, simple solution. . . DON’T GO THERE! Its not like its a top university in the nation, there are plenty others to choose from. I find some of the top programs in the United States are plenty diverse. I am here at Georgia Tech, a top engineering school in the world. It is very culturally diverse and that is undeniable. We have blacks, africans, south asians, east asians, eurasians, europeans, south americans, islanders, polynesians, middle easterns, eastern europeans, western europeans, south europeans, north europeans, scandinavian, native americans, white americans, you name it we have people from those cultures/races. (Does anybody else notice that race implies a competition?). We do have organizations promoting their races (everybody does, except for the white american and people of european descent), but its not a big factor in admissions.

    Where you go to college/university/institute is a choice, remember that. We had a girl here at Tech make ridiculous claims about her right to hate and a few other things. She wasted Georgia Tech resources and tried to promote her own agenda. My message to her is if you don’t like Tech then go somewhere else. Instead what did she do? graduate from her and then for graduate school? yes, the school that “oppresses her views”, Georgia Tech is where she went. Thats interesting. If you want the entire campus to be religious right and enforced maybe she should have tried Abilene Christian University which is based on that.

    Anyways I’ll check back later, sorry if some of this was slightly off-topic it was related.

    Cheers

    *I am not liable for any damage that may occur to you, another person(s), or any property.

    — Iain    Apr 7, 02:14 PM    #

72. As a friend of mine said after I forwarded this article to him. Why on earth would our fortune 500 company hire anyone with a degree from this institution? Oh, and he heads the HR department for a F500 company…

    — hhgonzo    Apr 7, 02:30 PM    #

73. Why on earth would anyone want to work for a Fortune 500 company just because they’re a Fortune 500 company. Besides, do all of those companies demand that their employees share the same exact opinions about everything (wait…. based on the legions of vapid, self-obsessed yuppies out there, maybe they do…)?

    — mm    Apr 7, 04:05 PM    #

74. As a black Doctor and a former Green Beret who teaches at an Ivy League School in the Fields of Medicine-Gastrointestinology to be specific. My merits in life came about from my own determination. I don’t need you to help me . I have every ounce of confidence that I will succeed regardless of your guilt laden patronization. I am not your term paper. I am a man not an object of your’s or your parents guilt. Please do not insult me by your grandiose attempts to feel my pain. You are not capable of doing that and merely by the fact you assume that you can is the ultimate insult and degradation. You have no idea what it is like to be me.

    PS. As an instructor I wish you would spend more time studying than feeling your input in this world is any more precious than anyone else’s? Get over your guilt and leave me alone.

    — Dr. Harden Stuhl    Apr 10, 12:20 PM    #

75. Karl said:

    In sports, you do not see affirmative action in the NBA or NFL or even on the number and makeup of the scholarships given in men’s football and men’s and women’s basketball. If you did, then there would be many more Asian-American, native American Indians, Hispanic-Americans playing in the NBA and NFL and college football and basketball. … I for one think we need to provide more access to sports university scholarships to Asian-Americans, Hispanic-Americans and Native American Indians. Just like giving more scholarships to women increase their participation, giving more sports scholarships to Asian-Americans, Hispanic-American and Native American Indian will increase their participation rate.

    Karl, was this intentional parody?

    Division I schools’ teams exist to win games. High School students who are selected to be given athletic tuition waivers (a.k.a. “sports scholarships”) are selected on one major basis only; can the kid play the game and give us a better chance to win? The schools don’t give a rat’s ass whether that kid is black, white, yellow or green; look at how many schools are overwhelmingly white whose basketball teams are overwhelming black. The point being that the racial mix of the pool of kids that will be selected for athletic tuition waivers is skewed towards one set of racial and ethnic groups and away from others back in, oh, 4th grade. I say this as a parent who has had two children playing college sports (one D 1, one D 3) and who has lived through it all. I mean it literally; if a kid is going to be put on a track where he or she can realistically compete for an athletic tuition waiver, they better be playing competitve sports somewhere between grades 4 and 6. After that, there are some exceptions but in the main it’s too late.

    If you want to see more Native Americans, etc. in the NBA or NFL (or MLB or NHL or tennis or golf), you need to work at the elementary school level to increase the opportunity for those kids to learn how to play the games at college level.

    High school seniors are being chosen by colleges for the skills they have developed over years of practice and competition. If you take a kid without such skills and put him or her on a D 1 athletic team, they’ll never be able to catch up with their skilled classmates and they’ll never end up playing any college games, nevermind making it to a professional league.

    Yes, women’s participation in D 1 teams picked up when they started giving out athletic tuition waivers to women, but those women were starting from scratch. New teams, leagues and even sports were created on a college level. But as this matures, you’re hitting the same issue; the women who get the tuition waivers were chosen for their ability to enable those teams to win.

    — RonF    Apr 13, 05:01 PM    #

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