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Editorial: No offense

This year, Ladd House will not be hosting its annual Inappropriate Party. After multiple conversations with the Office of Residential Life (ResLife) and Ladd’s advisors, House residents decided to forgo the event. In years past, disrespectful costumes have included aborted fetuses and various impersonations of Hitler. The Inappropriate Party, a Bowdoin and Ladd House tradition, is little more than a justification for students to be offensive. ResLife’s decision to caution Ladd House to think carefully before hosting the party—particularly in light of November’s Cracksgiving incident—was a good one. Ladd residents themselves spent two weeks brainstorming ways to host the Inappropriate Party without finding a solution. That itself is evidence that the event no longer has a place on campus.
The Inappropriate Party is not an event where an isolated offensive action may occur; rather, it specifically encourages participants to be offensive. One can imagine costumes that would be inappropriate but harmless, but the chances that all or even most of the costumes would be innocuous are slim. It is not worth the risk. Additionally, simply telling those who may be offended not to attend this party goes against the very purpose of the College House system: to create an inclusive social environment at Bowdoin. The College should not allow, let alone promote, an event condoning disrespect.
The pre-emptive cancellation of an event, however, could be a dangerous precedent to set. The mere possibility of offensive behavior should not be reason enough to cancel a party, since pre-emptive action punishes everyone for presumed transgressions. We believe individual students should be punished after the fact, should they decide to act in a disrespectful manner. The Inappropriate Party is an event at which students have conducted themselves poorly year after year, and it merits cancellation, but the College should not presume that Bowdoin students are incapable of attending a Wild West-themed party, for example, without resorting to disrespectful Native American costumes like those worn at Cracksgiving.
Upon graduation, Bowdoin students will enter a world in which many people are not as conscientious of concepts such as microaggressions and cultural appropriation. But we will also enter a society in which conversations about diversity of all kinds are becoming more common and in which cultural sensitivity is increasing. If Bowdoin can play any role in graduating a more socially-conscious group of alumni, it should. It is not our belief that Bowdoin students should plan events or live their lives in fear of offending others, but when we have a clear opportunity to prevent hurtful behavior, we should take it.
Bowdoin took a decidedly progressive stance when it punished the students who dressed as Native Americans at Cracksgiving, and it reaffirmed its committment to that stance by discouraging the Innappropriate Party. The loss of this ill-conceived event will improve campus culture. When it comes to other student programming that the College may find questionable, however, we hope that that the administration will take a back seat and that students will have the wherewithal to act in a manner becoming of a Bowdoin student.
This editorial represents the majority view of the Bowdoin Orient’s editorial board, which is comprised of Garrett Casey, Ron Cervantes, Sam Chase, Matthew Gutschenritter, Nicole Wetsman and Kate Witteman.

Editorial: Stand down

Bowdoin Climate Action (BCA) announced over Spring Break that it would escalate its fossil fuel divestment campaign by turning to civil disobedience, starting with a sit-in that will occur in the coming weeks. The group distributed a press release stating that more than 50 students have pledged to participate. BCA says “divestment is the tactic, climate justice is the goal.” We, and many members of the Bowdoin community, agree with BCA’s goal of working toward climate justice, but we do not believe that a narrow focus on pressuring the Trustees to divest is BCA’s best path forward.
The group has honed the rhetoric it uses to justify its escalation, repeatedly stating that since BCA members presented their case to the Board of Trustees in October, the Trustees have been silent for over 140 days. Group members also accuse President Barry Mills, who recently stated that he is the liaison between the Board and BCA, of failing to engage with them and failing to take climate justice seriously. Though Mills has been an imperfect liaison, we believe that BCA’s argument is misrepresentative. Both Mills and the Trustees have met with BCA and engaged with the group’s proposal. According to Mills, the Board concluded that divestment was not viable for Bowdoin, yet BCA continues to focus on this singular goal.
BCA would be better off reaching out as opposed to sitting in. In a recent survey conducted by Associate Professor of Government Michael Franz, only 24 percent of 311 respondents supported divestment, while 37 percent opposed it, and 35 percent reported that they did not have enough information to make a decision. If BCA wants to continue the divestment conversation, it should engage both the 37 percent of students who are opposed and the 35 percent who are undecided. BCA often asks, “Whose side are you on?” Until there is a more meaningful and balanced debate on the issue, many students will not know their answer to that question. We are beginning to see students who do not support divestment speak out. Kuangji Chen ’15 wrote a detailed op-ed this week in which he argues that the financial costs of divestment outwiegh its symbolic value.
BCA might also consider putting its divestment campaign on the backburner and focusing its efforts on other climate initiatives. There are other steps that can be taken toward the goal of climate justice. For example, when Middlebury announced that it would not divest from fossil fuels in 2013, Divest for Our Future Middlebury changed its tactics. It began encouraging Middlebury to increase its investments in renewable energy companies. BCA could also shift its focus away from the endowment entirely. Maine is confronting a number of environmental issues. Environmentalists working on local problems and climate change researchers at Bowdoin and elsewhere could all benefit from the work of committed college activists like those involved with BCA.
Climate change is one of the most pressing issues our generation faces. However, the single-minded pursuit of a symbolic goal is not the best way for Bowdoin students to address it. Sitting in will do little more than perpetuate a divestment campaign that is, for the time being, a lost cause. If BCA wants to make a difference, it should begin to pursue other options.
This editorial represents the majority view of the Bowdoin Orient’s editorial board, which is comprised of Garrett Casey, Ron Cervantes, Sam Chase, Matthew Gutschenritter, Nicole Wetsman and Kate Witteman.

Editorial

This piece represents the opinion of The Bowdoin Orient editorial board.

February 27, 2015

On Sunday, Wil Smith ’00 passed away after a battle with colon cancer. As has been widely written, Smith leaves behind a legacy as one of the most influential alumni in Bowdoin’s recent history. One of three African-American students in his class, Smith matriculated to the College when he was 28 and caring for his toddler daughter. Smith experienced hardships at Bowdoin in a time when our community was not as well-equipped to help struggling students adjust to Bowdoin.

In Smith’s first few months at the College, graduation seemed like an unattinable goal. Smith was surely the only Polar Bear to ever study and play basketball as a single parent, and at the beginning of his first semester, he felt underprepared and inadequately supported. That changed quickly. Roy Partridge, the professor of Smith’s first-year seminar, and Betty Trout-Kelly, the assistant to the president for multicultural affairs and affirmative action, marshalled resources and support for Smith. The College provided housing and a meal plan, and an alumnus donated $25,000 for childcare for his daughter.

After graduation, Smith became the director of multicultural student programs at Bowdoin, a position that allowed him to expand access to the College to new populations of students, and—once they arrived in Brunswick—to ensure that they received help if they needed it. According to Dean of First Year Students Janet Lohmann, Smith represents the idea of possibility at Bowdoin. “There was no scaffolding for a 28-year-old who wanted to play on the basketball team,” she said. “He just showed us what was possible—how we, as an institution, could meet people’s needs and how a person like Wil could really make this his home.”

Since Smith enrolled at the College, it has begun accepting a more racially, economically and regionally diverse student body, and it has developed progamming to meet that student body's needs. The administration has implemented the Bowdoin Advising Program to Support Academic Excellence (BASE) program, which provides robust advising to students who did not attend rigorous high schools. The College has also begun offering courses like Quantitative Reasoning, which help students improve the foundational skills they will need throughout their time at Bowdoin. Despite these efforts, there are students who believe that more should be done. Two weeks ago, over 200 community members gathered in the David Saul Smith Union to hear a small group of students talk about a variety of issues, including how Bowdoin can better support students from diverse backgrounds.

Smith worked tirelessly on issues of diversity and inclusion both at Bowdoin and beyond. All who knew him speak to his skill in giving voice to those who were not always heard and his belief in the potential of everyone with whom he worked. As we remember and mourn him, we should also recommit ourselves to the causes he championed. Smith’s story is as an example of how Bowdoin can enable all of its students to succeed, regardless of their circumstances. At the Berkshire School, Smith was known for his catchphrase “keep working.” Bowdoin has worked hard to expand access and better accomodate the needs of all students, but it should honor Smith’s mantra as it moves forward.

This editorial represents the majority view of the Bowdoin Orient’s editorial board, which is comprised of Garrett Casey, Ron Cervantes, Sam Chase, Matthew Gutschenritter, Nicole Wetsman and Kate Witteman.

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