State of the liberal arts

Editorial: Learning and teaching

Yesterday, the campus-wide teach-in, “Intersections: Making Connections, Moving Forward,” finally took place after ten months of planning. What was originally conceived as an event dedicated to climate change ultimately became an opportunity for members of the community to discuss the intersections between a range of pressing issues—namely climate and race. As a campus that often bemoans its tendency to “talk about talking,” the College finally engaged.
The teach-in’s goals were abstract. As organizer Mary Hunter told the Orient this week, “My bar is that people learn something that they couldn’t have learned without the day and that they converse in a way that they would not converse without the day.” As best as we can tell, yesterday met that goal. Events seemed well-attended, and participants engaged in conversations that are often had behind closed doors, if at all. Students and professors alike took advantage of the platform to share their knowledge and unique perspectives.
However, the event’s reach did not truly extend to the whole campus. Because events were optional and classes were not cancelled, many students did not participate, including some who may have wished to. While successful on many levels, this teach-in was not the campus-wide reckoning that some hoped for.
The teach-in was special because it concentrated the energy and focus of many students, faculty and staff. But every week, events are held on campus that address the same topics as the teach-in. For example, this past Monday, Clenora Hudson-Weems, a prominent academic from the University of Missouri, discussed the modern socio-economic, political and cultural experiences of women of African descent. This event did not occur as part of the teach-in, but it dealt with similar themes of race and social justice. A teach-in is a visible way to draw attention to certain issues, but Bowdoin should not forget the importance of engaging with them regularly, especially given the opportunities that only a college campus can provide.
Many members of the Bowdoin community attended the teach-in as a statement in and of itself. By attending, they showed not only the importance they place on the issues at hand, but affirmed the value of dialogue and activism in general. This is an affirmation that should exist beyond the teach-in; we should constantly look for ways to engage with issues that challenge us, not only when the opportunity falls in our lap in the form of a day-long event. This could mean attending more organized events and talks, getting involved in student activism, or being open to having more uncomfortable conversations. Everyone will take away something different from individual experiences at the teach-in, but if there’s one thing community members can all share, it should be a desire to continue filling the spaces where opportunities for engagement and thoughtful discussion are presented to us so readily.
This editorial represents the majority view of the Bowdoin Orient’s editorial board, which is comprised of John Branch, Sam Chase, Matthew Gutschenritter, Emma Peters and Nicole Wetsman.

Editorial: Commit to memory

Last weekend, the Board of Trustees approved President Clayton Rose’s proposal to terminate the Jefferson Davis Award—an academic honor given to a student excelling in the study of constitutional law. In President Rose’s words, “It is inappropriate for Bowdoin College to bestow an annual award that continues to honor a man whose mission was to preserve and institutionalize slavery.” This change was a necessary one, perhaps even overdue. The Jefferson Davis Award had been given out annually since 1973, and those who saw it awarded year after year may have assumed its inevitability. In President Rose’s motion to discontinue the award, we saw for the first time the benefit of bringing in a president with no previous ties to the College. Armed with a fresh set of eyes, he saw the award as the outdated relic that it was.
Last month, columnist Maya Reyes ’16 wrote an Op-Ed for the Orient titled “Franklin Pierce’s legacy deserves more recognition and discussion,” in which she called on the Bowdoin community to have “more conversations about the actions and products of Bowdoin that we aren’t so proud of.” Pierce—who graduated from Bowdoin in 1824—was a President guided by a troubling ideology. He ardently enforced the Fugitive Slave Act and opposed the abolitionist movement. Likewise, in a column this week about the Jefferson Davis Award, columnist Adira Polite ’18 writes, “America desperately needs to address its dark past and present in order to achieve progress. This is true in the context of Bowdoin as well.” Both Reyes and Polite are correct: the College must confront the parts of its history we might prefer to forget.
In 1858, Jefferson Davis was visiting southern Maine when the College awarded him an honorary degree at commencement. He was the lone southerner at the ceremonies, and another honorary degree recipient that afternoon was prominent Maine abolitionist William Pitt Fessenden. Every element of the event was fraught with contention. Bowdoin appeared to feel obligated to give an honorary degree to a man of Davis’ stature, but many students and local media outlets were at odds with his pro-slavery politics. And though Davis was certainly out of place on campus, he was not without a Bowdoin connection: he had served as Secretary of War under Franklin Pierce.
These are rich histories, compelling simply as narratives, but they also contain lessons. We aren’t necessarily proud of our historical associations with these men, and their stories are all the more worth telling for that fact. Seeing how representatives of Bowdoin have fallen on the wrong side of moral issues in years past helps us avoid assuming our own infallibility as an institution. Advocates for the removal of the Confederate flag at the South Carolina State Capitol this past summer argued that the flag did not belong at a government site but rather in a museum. It is in a similar way that Bowdoin should treat the memories of men like Davis and Pierce. They may not deserve to be honored, but they certainly need to be remembered.
This editorial represents the majority view of the Bowdoin Orient’s editorial board, which is comprised of John Branch, Sam Chase, Matthew Gutschenritter, Emma Peters and Nicole Wetsman.

Editorial

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

October 16, 2015

For only the fifteenth time in the College’s 221-year history, Bowdoin is inaugurating a new president. This weekend, Clayton Rose will be officially welcomed with a variety of events, including a symposium of prominent alumni that promises to explore the power of the liberal arts. The Inauguration coincides with Homecoming as well as the Board of Trustees’ fall meeting, so campus will be packed with alumni. What’s more, Clayton Rose will have a significant and unique platform to speak to the College community during his inaugural address—a chance to shed light on his goals for his tenure here.

This weekend marks a rare occasion in which many prominent alums from a diverse array of professions will gather to discuss topics of interest to the Bowdoin community. They will address the lasting relevance of the liberal arts—a theme featured in the inaugural ceremonies of many previous Bowdoin presidents. Take former president William Allen, who said in 1820, “The arts and sciences, besides conducing in a high degree to individual happiness, exert an important influence on the general state of society.” Or Rev. Edwin B. Webb, who, at the inauguration of former president William Hyde in 1885, said, “It is a foundation laid upon the bed rock, and a superstructure patiently raised in due proportions and symmetry that we covet. Let the specialty come after the curriculum has gone.”

Many previous presidents have also addressed more timely concerns facing the Bowdoin community at their inaugural events, and this weekend gives us an opportunity to hear from President Rose. Until now, Rose has made a point of hearing the voices of others at the College. In April, he told the Orient he was in a “listening and learning mode,” and in July said that the “broad theme for a while is going to be listening and meeting as many people as I can.” This is a commendable strategy for a newcomer seeking to understand a complex environment like Bowdoin. However, the time has finally come for Rose to speak and for us to listen.

So far, he has given us little insight about the directions in which he plans to steer the College. For instance, Rose is highly qualified to address the lack of faculty diversity—an issue the College has grappled with for decades—having studied issues of racial diversity from an academic perspective. As the College experiments with different ways to complement its liberal arts program with business education, Rose, a president with years of experience in both the financial sector and academia, has clear expertise to contribute. We hope to hear his thoughts on these and other pressing issues facing the College this weekend.

The Inauguration is more than just pomp and circumstance. It is a chance for the College to come together to reaffirm our commitment to the liberal arts and focus on the work that Bowdoin needs to do under President Rose’s leadership.

This editorial represents the majority view of the Bowdoin Orient’s editorial board, which is comprised of John Branch, Sam Chase, Matthew Gutschenritter, Emma Peters and Nicole Wetsman.

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