Modeling discourse

Editorial: Put it into practice

The sun is shining, the weather is (arguably) nice, the quad is sparkling green after a brief snowy coating and Randy Nichols is filling his polar bear water bottle and gearing up for a big weekend. It’s Ivies, baby.
This fall, the 2015 NESCAC Alcohol and Drug Survey results were released, revealing Bowdoin students’ attitudes on Bowdoin’s alcohol policies and bystander intervention. The survey was first conducted in 2012, and in the three years since then, Bowdoin students have shown improvements in their self-reported “sense of responsibility” to intervene in difficult situations involving intoxicated friends. Bowdoin students have increased 10 percentage points across the board in terms of intervening in the case of a friend driving drunk, vomiting, passing out, harassing others, threatening students, threatening to injure their self, embarrassing their self or drinking to “escape” emotions.
One of the biggest jumps was in sense of responsibility to intervene if a friend was “too intoxicated and might ‘hook up’ with someone.” Whereas in 2012, only 49 percent of students reported that they would intervene, in 2015, 67 percent of Bowdoin students claimed that they would get involved. This increase is encouraging, especially considering the widening of conversations that Bowdoin has been having about sexual assault. It correlates to the increase in Bystander Intervention trainings through Associate Director of Health Promotion Whitney Hogan, which every upper-class student leader is required to participate in.
The survey asked about “sense of responsibility,” and the results show that the majority of Bowdoin students feel very responsible to step in in a variety of potentially dangerous situations involving alcohol. Now, it’s Ivies! While some of Randy Nichols’ “best memories of Bowdoin” happened during Ivies—we’re very excited for our pictures with you, Randy—it’s also the time of year when we hear most from Randy about drug and alcohol safety. We receive “Survivies” and other protocol emails throughout the week, and Security is present all throughout the weekend. Many Bowdoin students will be choosing to imbibe in some way this weekend, and some of the scenarios presented in the survey may come up. This weekend offers a great chance to put these values into practice and step up when these situations occur in real life. The majority of Bowdoin students claim to feel responsible to do so, and now is the time to make good on those promises.
Ivies can be super fun. We can nap, we can laugh, we can cry and we can nap. And, it’s a time to, thankfully, be ourselves; our attitudes and sense of responsibility have improved greatly, and it’s important to keep it that way.
This editorial represents the majority view of the Bowdoin Orient’s editorial board, which is comprised of Julian Andrews, Jono Gruber, Meg Robbins and Emily Weyrauch.

Editorial: Free to apply

On Tuesday, the College announced that Bowdoin will eliminate its application fee for first generation applicants and applicants seeking financial aid. This step will have a significant impact in increasing the accessibility of Bowdoin’s application process. Bowdoin has taken a clear stance asserting that ensuring inclusivity in our campus community is at the core of the College’s mission.This systematic change will positively impact the lives of prospective and current students. As one of the nation’s most elite institutions, Bowdoin is in a position to lead the community of higher education towards a future of deliberate and active institutional change. We challenge Bowdoin to continue to be a leader among its peers in addressing national concerns, as it did by becoming SAT-optional, removing loans from financial aid packages and now waiving the application fee for the aforementioned groups of applicants.In deciding to waive the application fee for students for whom it would pose a financial barrier, Bowdoin has recognized that the student body’s composition must change from what it is today in order to fulfill the Offer of the College. This is an acknowledgment of the College’s obligation to the Common Good, decisively affirming the view that a diverse student body is necessary in order to maintain the College’s educational excellence. Most importantly, waiving the fee expands our notions of ‘diversity,’ demonstrating that creating a well-rounded student body is not only about considering gender and race—socioeconomic status is of equal importance.The progress, however, should not stop here. Eliminating the application fee will bring students from new and different backgrounds to campus. Bowdoin has brought these students to the campus but now it needs to make the campus resources equally available to everyone or the cause will be lost. There are explicit institutional changes that should be made to make that possible. To ensure true accessibility, it is Bowdoin’s responsibility to thoughtfully engage with this diversity in background and experience.This involves reflecting upon the different organizations and resources on campus. Do those organizations and resources provide the necessary support such that every student can partake in or utilize them? Additionally, reflection on what the network of Bowdoin students, professors, and alumni means is also important. Is the Bowdoin network the same for every student? Asking questions and having conversations like these is at the core of productive change. Waiving fees is a good start, but let’s continue these conversations on every level. And most importantly, let’s make sure that our campus community adapts with them.
This editorial represents the majority view of the Bowdoin Orient’s editorial board, which is comprised of Marina Affo, Julian Andrews, Steff Chavez, Grace Handler, Nickie Mitch, Meg Robbins and Joe Seibert.

Editorial

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

May 6, 2016

Wednesday night, an overflowing audience watched as five professors on stage in Kresge talked about their views on freedom of expression—how it comes into play nationally, on campus and in the classroom at Bowdoin. The conversation consisted of nuanced ideas from professors speaking clearly and argumentatively about the types of discourse allowed on campus and various forms of marginalization—here and in America overall. After each professor spoke, snaps and claps echoed from different parts of the audience.

It was a diverse crowd of attendees and a diverse group of faculty modeling a conversation for them. The conversation was heated—it got tense and even angry at points. Ultimately, it was messy and left the audience with many more questions than it answered. But, as challenging and inconclusive as it was, it was a space on campus for a public conversation about restrictions to expression.

Self-censorship happens in the world and on this campus in particular, not that it is a good or a bad thing. And, especially this year, absent or silent voices have even further impacted the course of dialogue. Claims have become defensive and the campus is more divided than we have seen it in our time at Bowdoin. Letting down our guard and allowing for some messy interpersonal engagement is not easy to do, but taking the risk of being imperfect and wrong is exactly what members of the Bowdoin community need to do more.

Classes end on Wednesday, and a week and a half after that we will leave Bowdoin, the majority of us coming back, at the soonest, three months later. We’ll say goodbye for now, and many of us will have the luxury of stepping away from the debates that have occupied Bowdoin this year. A controversial Facebook post will pop up here and there, but, otherwise, most of our communications will stop.

For all of us, including seniors preparing for their journey into the so-called ‘real world,’ we are presented with a challenge and an opportunity in each moment we confront the world: how do we defend our beliefs while being open to the fact that others think differently? It’s not easy to critically examine personal beliefs, but it is only through being challenged and pushing others that we grow as thinkers, as learners and as generous enthusiasts. Wednesday’s talk was beautifully chaotic. Each person was respected but their views were nevertheless debated unforgivingly. Let’s do more of that.

This editorial represents the majority view of the Bowdoin Orient’s editorial board, which is comprised of Julian Andrews, Jono Gruber, Meg Robbins and Emily Weyrauch.

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