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Editorial: Next step

The College sent a campus-wide email on October 2 to share proposed changes to the Sexual Misconduct Policy and request feedback from students. Many of the proposed changes will make Bowdoin compliant with new requirements created by the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2013, including broadening the definition of gender-based violence to include dating violence, domestic violence and stalking. Bowdoin has been progressive in providing resources for sexual assault survivors, and was among the first of its peer schools to create a gender violence and education position.
As strong as Bowdoin’s policies are, the College still needs to create an online portal that students can use to anonymously submit reports of sexual misconduct. There are currently five boxes on campus in which students can anonymously drop reports of sexual misconduct. We commend the College for providing a number of reporting options, but recognize that dropping a form into a box is itself an act of courage that could be a barrier for some victims of sexual misconduct.
According to Dean of Student Affairs Tim Foster, the administration is in the process of developing an anonymous online reporting system. We fully support the College in this initiative. For survivors, reporting sexual misconduct remotely might feel safer and more private than delivering a report to a physical box and we have an obligation to make the reporting process as uncomplicated as possible.
This editorial represents the majority view of the Bowdoin Orient’s editorial board, which is comprised of Garrett Casey, Ron Cervantes, Sam Miller, Leo Shaw and Kate Witteman.

Editorial: A false mandate

This week, the Orient examined a petition circulated by Bowdoin Climate Action (BCA) calling on the College to divest its endowment from fossil fuels. BCA has been collecting signatures since the fall of 2012 and has reported that it now has the support of 1,200 students. The group has shown remarkable initiative and dedication to its cause and has received the attention of those on campus, the Brunswick community, and the greater Bowdoin network. Just a few weeks ago, leaders of BCA met with members of the Board of Trustees to present their case for divestment. President Barry Mills arranged this meeting under the impression that over 1,000 Bowdoin students had expressed a desire for the College to divest. However, this was not the case.
We recognize the passion with which members of BCA have promoted the group’s divestment agenda and appreciate the value that student activism provides to our community. While the editorial board of the Orient expressed its opposition to divestment in February 2013, we acknowledge that BCA has made progress in its mission and sparked significant dialogue on a campus that often lacks political engagement.
In their presentation to the Trustees, BCA leaders relied on the petition when claiming that they had a mandate from the student body. However, a survey conducted this week of students who signed BCA’s petition revealed a considerable discrepancy between the group’s self-reported support and the actual student backing for its cause. Its alleged 1,000 signatures included names from two separate petitions—one of which stressed carbon neutrality more than divestment—and a large number of signatories reported that they do not currently endorse divestment. In light of these findings, BCA should not claim to speak for the majority of students on campus nor use this claim as leverage in its discussions with the administration.
An editorial that ran in the Orient last April argued that students should engage more meaningfully with the issues that are at stake when asked to sign petitions. Although many signed the BCA petitions without such critical consideration, we do not doubt that hundreds of signatories do make up an important voice for environmental change. The large number of students who presented the petition to Mills last April and the letter from 70 faculty members to the Board of Trustees demonstrate that a significant portion of Bowdoin community members are behind divestment.
Despite these outspoken voices, however, there remains an equal if not greater population that doubts whether or not divestment is the best course of action that the College can take to promote environmentalism. For now, the College should not be unduly influenced by the inflated numbers of a vocal minority.
This editorial represents the majority view of the Bowdoin Orient’s editorial board, which is comprised of Garrett Casey, Ron Cervantes, Natalie Kass-Kaufman, Sam Miller, Leo Shaw and Kate Witteman.

Editorial

Why a financial accounting class offered through the Economics department would need to be in keeping with the liberal arts ethos

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

October 24, 2014

Dean of Academic Affairs Cristle Collins Judd said this week that Bowdoin could offer a financial accounting course in collaboration with the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth as soon as the spring semester. Judd insisted that the course would be grounded in a liberal arts sensibility, but also acknowledged that it would help students in their job searches.

Bowdoin’s “Statement on a Liberal Education” reads: “Although a liberal education is not narrowly vocational, it provides the broadest grounding for finding a vocation by preparing students to be engaged, adaptable, independent, and capable citizens.” The College must ensure that new additions to the curriculum meet this standard by encouraging critical and humanistic inquiry. The economics department should design a class in which students would not only learn the basics of financial accounting but also develop a critical understanding of finance. The course would not adhere to Bowdoin’s educational mission if it solely taught the skills necessary to succeed in the financial services industry.

We acknowledge that a large number of Bowdoin graduates hope to find jobs in business and finance, and that some of them are unable to secure internships that will help them develop relevant skills. It is troubling that many students who do find finance jobs spend thousands of dollars to attend preparatory programs such as those offered by the Tuck School or the London School of Economics, which cost about $15,000 and $5,500, respectively. Over the last three Winter Breaks, Bowdoin has hosted the third-party Fullbridge Program, which teaches business skills at a slightly lower cost. The number of students enrolling in these programs suggests that a financial accounting course would be in high demand. Implementing one would make it so that Bowdoin’s best candidates for jobs in finance are not just those who can pay for expensive programs.

Bowdoin has indeed offered courses in the past which touched on vocational skills. The visual arts program has occasionally offered a course in architectural design, although it was last taught by artist Alicia Eggert in the context of sculpture. Writing Women, taught by visiting Tallman Scholar Susan Faludi last spring, challenged students to “produce their own investigative, magazine-style project related to women or gender,” but also engaged the history of feminism and the sociology of gender.

In the case of an accounting class developed in conjunction with a prominent business school, the College has to prove that students will learn skills necessary for exploring larger themes in the discipline, and not simply beef up their resumes. Judd has assured us that any financial accounting course will fit in fully with the College’s curriculum. We believe that the Curriculum Implementation Committee is working diligently to create an appropriate course, but want more than Judd’s assurances—we want a full explanation of how the proposed course will promote critical inquiry and honor the tradition of the liberal arts.

This editorial represents the majority view of the Bowdoin Orient’s editorial board, which is comprised of Garrett Casey, Ron Cervantes, Natalie Kass-Kaufman, Sam Miller, Leo Shaw, and Kate Witteman.

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