The recent controversy surrounding the Right Rev. James Tengatenga's appointment as the new dean of the Tucker Foundation raises an immensely important question regarding activism at Dartmouth. As Tucker dean, Tengatenga must promote community service, spirituality and social justice on campus. Though he and his diocese in Malawi are praised for providing small loans to female entrepreneurs, installing mosquito nets to prevent malaria, building water wells to reduce water-borne diseases and advocating HIV/AIDS education ("Rev. Tengatenga to lead Tucker Foundation," July 16), he is criticized primarily for his previous stance on homosexuality.
In 2011, Tengatenga reiterated statements by prominent Anglican leaders in Africa that reaffirmed the church's position against same-sex marriage. But in a statement released last Thursday, Tengatenga claimed that his views on homosexuality had changed over time and that he now supports same-sex marriage ("Tengatenga states LGBT support," July 19). Still, Irene Kacandes, chair of the Tucker dean search committee, adamantly defends Tengatenga, despite the fact that the Malawi Council of Churches, which Tengatenga once chaired, pressured the Malawian government to reinstate laws criminalizing same-sex relations this past November ("Concerns linger over Tengatenga," July 23). Tengatenga made no visible effort to challenge the church's stance.
Whether or not Tengatenga's views on homosexuality have changed and this we may never know his appointment as the dean of Tucker is unwise and represents a serious affront to the LGBT community. The College must rescind its offer to Tengatenga in order to reaffirm that homophobia is intolerable on this campus and that those who have been openly party to it in the past will not be granted positions of influence. We must also ask how we, as Dartmouth students, can hope to be inspired by and follow in the footsteps of a supposed icon of social justice like Tengatenga if he fails to act on the pro-gay beliefs he claims to possess. Tengatenga can certainly say what we want to hear now, but he has proved himself to be, at best, a passive bystander to injustices in his country.
When it comes to sticking to his "beliefs," Tengatenga's passivity is not so dissimilar to the indifference we encounter here at Dartmouth when it comes to furthering social justice. Many Dartmouth students consider themselves socially liberal and oppose social maladies such as sexism, racism and homophobia. But how many of them actually act on these beliefs? Too many times have I heard "fag," "that's so gay," or "no homo" carelessly tossed around, even if their intended meanings are not malicious. Too many times have I heard both men and women shamelessly label a girl as a "slut" without regard for the word's nastiness or the fact that men with the same history are often praised for their "sexual prowess." And too many times have I been told that there is nothing wrong with the fact that members of different races generally retreat into separate social spheres on campus.
When will people wake up and acknowledge the oppressive power structures they reinforce? Or perhaps they are very much aware of the nature of their comments and behavior, but cannot bring themselves to care enough to change them. Being "politically correct" is often seen as annoying and nitpicky and, indeed, it can be, but that doesn't mean that we should ignore the severity of the words and phrases that we use daily. Most of us, fearing rejection and ostracism, feel uncomfortable calling out our friends on their ignorant beliefs and language. Doing so is not "chill" and gives you a reputation as a downer.
Tengatenga decided to be a "bro" and made no overt effort to go against the oppressive actions of the community of which he was a part. Instead, he quietly went along with his peers and only stated his pro-gay beliefs when he was personally challenged this past month. Tengatenga's blatant failure to adhere to the social justice promoted by the Tucker Foundation aside, I think this man's resistance to pro-gay activism parallels a very similar attitude regarding social justice here at Dartmouth. People like to say, "But I'm not an activist." That is fair enough. But if you claim to stand against homophobia, racism, sexism and the like, then it is time to show it. Those who hold hateful views and use hateful language, even without realizing it or "meaning anything by it," perpetuate a hostile campus culture. It is time to evaluate our behavior as well as that of our peers and actually make the little changes necessary to create a safer campus.
