The Bowdoin Orient

I’d like to accept Bowdoin College’s invitation to engage, in a respectful way, with uncomfortably diverse opinions. In October, the college announced it was discontinuing the Jefferson Davis Award. That was a slam dunk. The time had come. There was little disagreement with discontinuing the award.

 But let’s see if Bowdoin can grapple with what appears to be another slam dunk, which would ask Bowdoin to do something applauded by the conservative side of the cultural spectrum. If Bowdoin is going to host a Girls and Women in Sports Day, we should also host a Boys and Men in Sports Day. No other college in the country has dared to do this yet. Somewhere around 1989, Bowdoin and many other colleges began hosting Girls and Women in Sports Day to help girls catch up after nine decades of unequal sports opportunities. This was a great idea. It was a smart event to help girls catch up in sport skills and interest. And all over the country the girls caught up fast. By 1993 Bowdoin women’s athletics teams were among the best in our department. Once the NESCAC allowed sports teams to qualify for NCAA post-season competition, the first Bowdoin team to qualify was the 1994 women’s cross-country team. More Bowdoin women’s teams qualified for NCAA competition than men’s teams. By 1999 it was pretty clear that our women’s athletic teams succeeded as well or better than our men’s teams. 

I often get to see Girls and Women in Sports Day outside my office in the field house. It is great to see over a hundred girls running around in games and drills inside while the ground is covered with two feet of snow outside. But it is not so great to see a dozen brothers sitting on the sidelines, bored and not welcome to join in the activities. I’ve been coaching co-ed teams and running co-ed camps at Bowdoin since 1987, and I don’t do anything where only boys or only girls are welcome to participate. It is offensive to think of hosting events at Bowdoin where either boys or girls are not welcome. 

I thought we should add a February event for Boys in Sports so in the middle of winter, the boys could run around Farley Field House just as the girls have been doing for the past 25 years. I made a proposal in 2014 to the Student Athlete Advisory Committee to encourage them to host a Boys in Sports Day. I thought a group of student-athletes would be persuaded that the time had come to host equal events for boys and girls. Some members supported it, but more opposed it. It didn’t pass. It could be that the idea does not have enough merit, but it could also be that once a preference is given to a group, the group tenaciously fights to defend the preference even after the inequality has passed into another era. 

The Economist published an article in 2001 about the global clamor for special preferences to make up for past injustices. The article reviewed the ups and downs of those preferences in countries on every continent, and concluded that “States should not discriminate, ‘positively’ or otherwise.” Unintended consequences had bad effects. Preferences embed long-lasting divisions and promote the blaming of others. “A short dose of positive discrimination may be the least bad way forward. But such measures should be a last resort, and come with an expiry date.” Is there an expiry date on only hosting a Girls in Sports Day? I think the expiration date should be the year in which American women win their third World Cup.

 When it comes to sports, I hope we can agree that sports are good for girls and boys. Sports are known to help girls become confident and independent. Sports are known to help boys do better in school and meet the positive influences that help them stay out of trouble. Bowdoin should and does have an athletic program that gives equal opportunities to men and women. In our educational enrichment activities, I hope we can host a Girls in Sports Day one weekend, and a Boys in Sports Day the next. 

If you disagree with me, I invite you to seek me out in person at the field house any weekday evening from 7:00 to 8:00 p.m.  Spare me the personal attacks in the Orient, which are the surest way to eliminate diverse opinions on this campus. I miss the days earlier in my career when Bowdoin students enjoyed speaking respectfully and even humorously about different opinions. Political correctness choked off respectful disagreements at Bowdoin 15 years ago to the point where the campus intellectual culture feels like a parliamentary debate without an opposition party. All the debaters are on the same side. If you want to brush up against the benefits of diverse views, which include learning to appreciate the other side of an argument and reflecting critically on the wisdom of your own positions, come down to the Field House and speak respectfully with the opposition party.

Peter Slovenski is the coach of the cross country and track teams.