December 1, 2000
Volume CXXXII, Number 10

Swing dance is not exclusive

    Every Bowdoin student, past and present, has signed the Academic Honor Code. As stated in the College Catalogue, "The Academic Honor Code plays a central role in the intellectual life at Bowdoin College. Students and faculty are obligated to ensure its success. Uncomprimised intellectual inquiry lies at the heart of a liberal arts education." In signing the Honor Code, students agree to make every effort to ensure the practice of "uncompromised intellectual inquiry."

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    We were disappointed and frustrated to read the editorial in the last issue of the Orient regarding the upcoming Junior/Senior Ball. The author argued that by making the dance a "swing" event, it aimed to exclude those members of the Junior and Senior classes who cannot dance swing or who do not enjoy this style of music.
   The reality is that those who selected the music were aware of this sentiment, and they worked to find a band that departed from the swing genre, but which would still maintain an atmosphere of panache. The organizers of the Junior/Senior Ball who chose this band did so after listening to dozens of tapes of performers and elected this band because they felt that their sound was unique from the typical "swing" style.

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    When dealing with the issue of diversity at Bowdoin, it seems to be very much a black/white issue. I don't want to be misunderstood as saying that diversity at Bowdoin pertains solely to one minority group. I would merely like to point out that this college's commitment to ethnic cultivation and diversity is not evenly distributed. Although there is a significant Asian constituency in the student body, the Administration does not heed the economic, academic, and psychological needs of its Asian students. Perhaps Asians do not provide the "diversity" to raise Bowdoin's standings in the U.S. News & World Report.

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