Thursday night (or I should say Friday morning), I was on my way to the golf course to watch the meteor shower when I bumped into some friends. The first thing they spoke to me about was the controversial luau party.
My reaction was quick in coming: here we go again. And indeed, it all happened like clockwork.
The party was canceled, people were going to be meeting well into the morning, and there were disagreements about what happened, what was meant, and what to do. Blitzes were being written and rewritten in order to go out to the campus, apologizes were given by some, punishment was demanded by others.
The question that I kept hearing the next morning was, "Do you think the luau was offensive?" I felt then and feel now, that it doesn't matter whether or not I feel something is offensive, it simply matters that someone was offended.
We have a thing at Dartmouth called the Principle of Community. I believe it's at the entrance of most (if not all) the residential buildings at this college. How many of you have actually read it? I ask, because up until someone mentioned it to me a few days ago, I know I hadn't.
Part of it reads, "In all activities each student is expected to be sensitive to and respectful of the rights and interests of others ... he or she should be appreciative of the diversity of the community as providing an opportunity for learning and moral growth," and on the basis of this, anyone who is offended has a right to make this known. We are a community, or at least we claim that we are, and we should care how others in that community feel.
But all this talk of "community" gets played out very quickly and I know that not everyone at Dartmouth cares about "community." I know for a fact, because I've heard it again and again, that many people think this whole "luau" thing is being blown out of proportion much like many incidents that have occurred before.
I'm sure these people would say "suck it up," or "that's life." To these people I would ask, "Do you know what a luau is?" I know I don't. I have no idea. It could be a Hawaiian barbecue or it could a party thrown every third Friday of every other month. It could be an activity with strong cultural ties or a traditional religious function.
The point is, most of us probably don't have a clue. So I would advise you to think before you tell someone they don't have a right to be offended. Do you have any idea what they're getting offended about?
And a few words about intention ... it doesn't matter. If you kill someone, it may matter in the courts whether it was intentional or not, but the dead person is still dead. It doesn't matter if you didn't intend to offend ... the fact is, someone's offended. What matters is what you're going to do about ... ignore it or try to understand why?
So who's to blame for this? Someone's gotta be blamed, right? Who should we point fingers at? The Greek System? No, I don't think it's that simple.
This is not the Greek System's problem ... it's a problem of all of Dartmouth. It's a problem our whole nation faces. Even so, it seems people are using this issue to "come after" the Greek System, while others are using the discussion forum idea as a way to save it. And because of this, the real issue is being forgotten.
We're so diverse, that we don't understand where we're coming from ... and most of us probably don't care about finding out. So I think that punishing the houses involved isn't the solution ... but a forum like some campus leaders mentioned is what is needed.
And yet, despite all this, I feel like we're running in circles. I'm sure the '99s or '98s or '92s would be really proud of how we're handling this situation.
I mean, damn, we're good. The people in charge have done a great job of handling this situation and mostly appeasing all the groups involved. You should be proud of many members of our "community."
But you know what? We're not handling it any differently then ever before. And there's no guarantee that this just won't keep happening. How many forums do you think have been held at Dartmouth?
Truth be told, a select few of us are learning a lot about effective damage control. But I'm not so confident we're learning anything about community, about cultural differences, about lack of understanding ...
To be honest, I think a forum is a great idea. Not an original one but a great one. But the same people who complain that "we gave in too early" or "what right do people have in being offended and ruining our fun" won't go to these forums and if they do, they won't really care.
Forums are just a temporary solution for a long-term problem. And next year, more than 1,000 '03s will be arriving at Dartmouth with no idea what the "ghetto" party or what this party was all about.
But I guarantee you that within their first year, they will. And our forum won't change that ... nothing we've done so far will.
Unless we look for a long term solution, you can expect these "incidents" to continue well past 2001. What kind of solution would work? Trust me, there are ideas. Some big, some small, some radical, some curricular, some social. Ask me, ask others, ask around. You won't find the conclusion or answer at the end of this editorial.
