Recently, I had the pleasure of attending a Common Hour given by BSG President Haliday Douglas '05. It was the first time since I have been at Bowdoin when a student gave a lecture, and it was a well-delivered and intelligent presentation. However, I worry that Douglas' presentation has further emboldened Bowdoin students to take center stage. Douglas' lecture should remain the exception, not the rule.
Patrick Hughes recently wrote in a letter to the editor about the problem of students "who speak merely to hear themselves speak, who are convinced that they have all of the answers...who emerge from Bowdoin with closed rather than open minds." The letter could not have been better timed. A week later, we broke the school record for intellectual embarrassment. I am not talking about the crazed Communist zombies that lumbered into the balcony seats to scream and moan at Bremer. No one seemed to know where they came from and everyone wanted them to leave. Their pathetic display was a nice complement to the intellectual meltdown that took place shortly after Bremer's speech.
Students took the microphone to lecture the lecturer. "Questions" were long, rambling, poorly constructed arguments with a "so, can you respond to that?" at the end. Rarely were these questions on topic. The speaker responded with simple answers that easily leveled the student's argument. The student body was shocked that a student's idea was so passionately rejected. Those above undergraduate age were embarrassed that the question was asked in the first place.
Keep in mind, Bremer has worked for the State Department for 23 years. He has been a top advisor to six Secretaries of State. He just spent 14 months in Iraq transforming the rubble of a brutal dictatorship into a fledgling democracy.
Still, many students were under the illusion that we could teach the Ambassador a thing or two. We tried to correct his stats, complained that he "did not tell us anything new" and accused him of making "assured statements" about subjects that he apparently has no business having assurance about. Students spoke for so long the audience began to wonder who was giving the lecture, the envoy to Iraq or one of our 19-year-old Sociology majors who has read a few government documents.
This problem has become common. As soon as we have the opportunity to ask questions, we grab the microphone, perceived to be the great equalizer between student and expert. This isn't true. It's time that we learn our role. We are students first. Everything else is secondary. We are here to learn. Most of the time, our mouths should be shut. We listen better that way.
There are several causes of this problem. Discussion-based courses are a culprit. What can be an effective teaching tool is perverted by professors who simply run discussions between five or six teenagers who are approaching the material for the first time. Most professors do not have the heart to tell students they're wrong. Students can say whatever they want without fear of being reprimanded. Too often students are encouraged to say whatever is on their mind, no matter how inane.
The real problem, however, is our attitude as students. We are anti-authoritarian narcissists. We think we have all the answers. We question authority before we understand it. We look for hypocrisy before we understand the message. The time has come for experts and students to rediscover their roles in the academia. Professors, students learn better when all answers and comments are not treated equally. There are right and wrong answers. Oftentimes, we are wrong. You know the difference. We depend on you to teach us the difference.
Students, we do not know everything. We have a lifetime of opinions and arguments ahead of us, but only four years to be undergraduates. In your time at Bowdoin, first master the art of being a thoughtful listener. Otherwise, you will emerge from this campus with the illusion that you know everything, when in actuality you spent your four years tuned exclusively to your own pointless blather.