Pursuing education takes priority over entertainment industry

Ramblings of a mountain man: Creating safe spaces fosters academic engagement for all

The University of Chicago recently sent a letter to its freshman class abolishing safe spaces and trigger warnings in favor of academic inquiry and advancement. This letter might have been well-intentioned, but it misses the mark by forgetting about marginalized groups such as minorities, sexual assault survivors and the LGBTQ community. If a college does not allow for spaces for these and other groups when needed, then academic institutions may run the risk of further marginalizing these groups while also diluting the college experience for the rest of the student body.
The need for safe spaces has evolved as the college landscape has developed over the last half century. In this time, colleges increasingly accepted larger numbers of minorities and women. More recently, as a result of the gay rights movement, the stigma around being LGBTQ has slowly been lifted and nowadays—in many parts of the country—it appears safer to announce one’s sexuality. Across America’s college campuses, communities have been created, and have served numerous purposes. These include: a place where the students feel free of criticisms, where they don’t have to explain and/or defend their identity to others, where they don’t have to fear being ostracized and where they can safely decompress and exchange their experiences. These safe spaces are similar to release valves as they allow the students to sound off if they need to. Thus safe spaces don’t inhibit academic curiosity, but rather enhance it by allowing students to recharge before they rejoin the larger student population.
There are stories that are best left on the shelf and don’t need to be aired out for all to see. These stories can revolve around traumatic events related to a family’s acceptance of sexual identity, family violence, the struggles of impoverished communities, sexual assaults and harassment. These stories often are painful for the storyteller and often their scars run deep—I would know. To not give the students with these stories space to meet others with similar stories may increase their vulnerability and marginalization. As an example, one in four women and one in six men will experience sexual assault in college. Communities of sexual assault survivors absolutely deserve a safe space to meet. Without it, they may struggle—alone—to find ways to move forward with their lives.
It is also important to remember the goal of a college, which is to help foster an environment where intellectualism does not only exist but also flourishes. To properly create this environment, a "one size fits all" policy may run counter to spurring a rich, healthy environment in that different groups of students have different needs. As an example, colleges don’t have different athletes using the same locker room, for feasibility and logistical reasons. This strain of logic can be applied to the many different minority and LGBTQ groups on college campuses. By giving these groups a space on campuses to meet, they are granted the same opportunity to gather. This is similar to the way various science and literature clubs are set up, with the exception that these groups are not shaped up by interests but rather by shared experience. If these experiences aren’t allowed a space to thrive, then the story of the college campus runs the risk of becoming stunted.
College is a place where students with diverse experiences and backgrounds come together and knit a quilt from thousands of different colors of thread. Yet the University of Chicago has decided to remove some threads and tatter the quilt. In doing so, they are limiting the college experience for both the general student body and the students who aren’t allowed safe spaces. They say, "College is supposed to be the best four years of your life," but not if the college administrators’ decisions make you feel like you don’t belong.

Ramblings of a mountain man

Pursuing education takes priority over entertainment industry

This piece represents the opinion of the author:

December 2, 2016

It is a common understanding that education is the key to furthering an individual’s socioeconomic standing. Individuals can also improve their socioeconomic status in the entertainment business. However, individuals cannot assure socioeconomic improvement due to the volatile nature of the entertainment business. It is just as important for a poor white person to obtain advanced technical training or a college degree as it is for their poor African-American counterparts. While minorities have been disproportionately poorer than whites, there are still poor whites who need to escape poverty, and education is the surest key to escape their situation.

Advanced education is the best way to escape poverty, though entertainment is another way to make enough money to improve socioeconomic standing. It is not feasible for all those in the lower rungs of society to become singers and athletes as a means to end the cycle of poverty. Less than one percent of all high school athletes and singers make it to the professional level in their respective sport or musical field. This means there are still many who do not make it each year even if they miss the cut by the smallest of margins. Since only a select number of people can become professional entertainers, these stars should focus the spotlight on education, as this allows for more people to advance in society. This isn’t to say people should stop aspiring to become professional entertainers, but rather should come to understand an education is just as—if not more—important.

Advanced education is a surer way for poor Americans to escape poverty. There are many more jobs outside of entertainment and in some job sectors there aren’t enough people to fill all the jobs. To obtain these jobs, Americans in almost all cases need some form of higher education, even if this means an apprenticeship and advanced technical training to become an electrician, for example. This is a shift from generations ago where workers could work in factories with just a high school degree and make enough to live a comfortable life. This is no longer the case, as many jobs nowadays are considered be high-skill rather than low-skill. This means a high school diploma is no longer the golden standard for education. Instead, the standard has shifted up some to require apprentice training or some form of college degree. To highlight this change, it might help to change the attitudes about continuing education, making it seem not like a novelty, but rather as a necessity for a professional life.

For those fortunate enough to go to college, this system isn’t perfect either, even with the introduction of legislation helping underrepresented groups gain entrance into the college system. Unfortunately, this didn’t solve the issue around actually paying for college, especially for those of lower socioeconomic status. College prices have been steadily rising since the 1980s with no signs of slowing down and some elite colleges even charge upwards of $60,000 per year. Even with financial aid, many poor students cannot afford to go to college, or if they do, they take on exorbitant amounts of student debt. This hole in the system means people of lower socioeconomic groups cannot further themselves without risking wrecking themselves financially. This shouldn’t be the case, and there needs to be some way in which public colleges and universities have ways to pay for students. This could come in the form of federal legislation change to set money aside to help those who need financial aid, to a higher degree than what the Pell grants seem to be able to handle. Also, there are many technical programs that are very expensive. Students amass a great amount of debt when they enroll in some of these programs. All those who wish to continue their education or training should have the opportunity to do so even if this means they need some financial aid, without fear of taking on massive debt.

Continuing one’s education is the key to success, and yet for so many it is so far away. There has to be a system which allows for those who need it the most to access it. At the same time America has to shift the spotlight away from making it as a professional entertainer. The future is here and advanced education or training is the key to moving forward for everyone. At the end of the day education is the great equalizer and we can all agree a mind is a terrible thing to waste.

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