Embrace diversity

A story has been floating around campus concerning an unfortunate incident involving a tour, a guide and an unhappy parent. An email was sent to the tour coordinator, Dave Mabe, not too long ago from said parent essentially tearing the program a new one. This parent was offended by the mention of Elise Elrod, the transgendered reverend who recently spoke here. She was offended by Elrod, but also had a problem with her tour guide showing pride for our school's acceptance. That is where the problem arises. I respect people's differences and I understand that we all come from different walks of life.

I find it absolutely disgusting, though, that having a transgendered speaker on campus would be considered "unattractive" (her words, not mine). Do you know what's unattractive? Ignorance. Whatever her opinions are, hatred is never something I will respect. And, I will never NOT be proud of the steps our school has taken to create a more tolerant atmosphere.

Of course, this put the tour program into an incredibly inconvenient situation. Mabe wrote a response email to his guides, saying: "there really isn't a 'right way' or a 'wrong way' to approach the world around you. And college, especially Davidson, should be about fostering interaction between different kinds of people. Because of the validity of difference, please treat everyone on your tours with respect. And approach your job with a certain humble accuracy."

Unfortunately, Davidson has the stereotype of being a little bit too white and a little bit too conservative. The thing I love about Davidson, though, is that we're trying to fix these issues. The new loan policy is a perfect example of the attempts our college is making to broaden the diversity of the Davidson student body. Furthermore, bringing someone like Elrod onto our campus is something we would not have done as a school ten years ago.

But what kind of example are we setting if we shrink away from our attempts to be accepting? Davidson made the choice to bring Elrod here and in doing so has accepted the inevitable "sensitivity" issues a Presbyterian college must face. But I am proud that our school would take that step. Someone is bound to find that unappealing, but if some parent or prospective student has a problem with that, well, we don't want them. We don't need to make Davidson "look good," as Davidson is already nationally recognized. We have no need to placate ignorance when we should be using our power as a school to stop it. We don't need to be vague about what we do; we need to celebrate it. I can promise you that with that one parent's distaste, there were five other students who decided right then and there that Davidson was the school for them. We don't want people to come here if they feel uncomfortable.

Let's say that from now on, tour guides glossed over anything "unseemly" and we, instead of being special and strong, turned vague and ordinary. Maybe that unfortunate high school student would have applied if Elrod was left out of the tour. But after his acceptance he might experience Davidson's diverse programs and question his choice of school. He of course is a very extreme example, but it is still unnecessary to pretend we're something we're not.

We should be recruiting high school students that will continue and improve upon this continuing legacy of acceptance. Davidson has a history of homophobia and racism. But we're working on it. We have a slowly diminishing problem of keeping people who are different on campus. But we're working on it. President Vagt, though sadly leaving, is confident: "We will move forward!" he recently wrote me. We should absolutely not be avoiding subjects that might seem odd so some parents won't get offended. We don't want anyone here promoting hatred.

Elise Elrod is a societal outlier, but that's okay. She's special, not inappropriate. She is a lesson brought to Davidson and should not be treated as a burden. Fifty years ago no campus would even have considered recruiting someone like Elrod to speak. But they wouldn't have considered taking a woman or a black speaker either. If some parent writes a letter saying that they were uncomfortable that we have a black campus police chief, are we going to avoid that topic too?

Think about what type of atmosphere we are trying to create, and promote it.