"I'm not going to press charges," he said. "I see the humor."
-- senior at Hillsdale (and friend) Rob Ogden, from an article in the Hillsdale Collegian, April 9, 2009
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Maybe I'm a prude.
After all, I went to Hillsdale College, a place where mommy and daddy prudes send their fledgling prudes for higher education. I remember coming back from summer break to find, raised on Scotch tape all around campus, "posters" spouting Scripture and beseeching female students to dress more modestly. I remember hearing about an elderly CCA speaker calling modern women "sperm spittoons." I remember watching the 2006 Commencement ceremony, as Harvey Mansfield gave his speech on gender roles in American society while ignoring the fact that he stood on a graduation platform, while dozens of offended female professors and family members left the bleachers. I remember being told by a student-actress that the theatre department was "too unvirtuous" for her, and that was why she would no longer participate in our activities.
Women were not the only victims of prudishness at Hillsdale, as I recall. A friend of mine (also a member of the theatre department) was assaulted for being black, and a few homosexual students have suffered verbal abuse from the self-righteous on campus.
All this because we must protect ourselves from those without virtue, right? We praise that which we see in ourselves, call it virtue, trace its ancient lineage, and "prove" our own worth: fortitude on the football field, prudence of progeny, justice for the just few, temperance without tolerance. And those don't even include the theological virtues, the Christian triumverate--faith, hope, and love.
Tell me, perpetrators of the most recent disgrace to my alma mater, to which virtue did you cling while you cleft the carcass of a deer, to pull out its innards and drape them like Christmas lights across a fellow student's porch? What higher purpose drove you to the side of the road, lifting, pilfering the dead body of a goat so you could place it--with a copy of the latest newspaper--before the editor's front door? In short, answer me this: What the hell is wrong with you?
I understand that the paper shouldn't have run a brash editorial. But when a printed crime is met with physical crime, I have to side with the paper. The pen is not only mightier; it is nobler. Case in point, the editorial staff has apologized publicly, several times. The baseball team has yet to do so once. And whose offense stinks most?
It's hard enough sometimes to explain why I chose to go to Hillsdale, but I try anyway. I am a conservative, and yet I associate with liberals because I believe it makes me and them better thinkers and better people. So I try not to suppress my pride when it comes to my school.
But when an eighteen-year-old mayor loses a testicle, gets convicted for writing prank emails, all as he begins his freshman year at the school; when an athlete commits suicide in an underground dorm room; when I hear of racism and sexism thriving at a school whose admission procedures have never contained a word about race or sex; when a personal friend is beaten by locals for the color of his skin, and another is called "faggot" despite the shining colors of his character; and when a bunch of bad baseball players, upset and insulted by a hasty newspaper editorial, sneak out in the dead of night to scour the streets for the dead bodies of animals, to rip these carcasses apart and lay the intestines out like swag banners, to shovel rodents onto another student's porch, to resort to vandalism in place of educated discourse or better field play, to remain nameless while the investigation continues, and then to cower behind coaches, to dodge the scandal, to delay while they should apologize--
When all this happens, it makes me wonder why I went to the same school with these people. With full knowledge of all the good things Hillsdale gave me, I condemn the actions of the baseball players who thought it would be intimidating, funny, badass, or exhilerating to desecrate property and roadkill out of team spirit and wounded pride. You make me sick.
Consider this entry a carcass on your porch, Charger baseball team. Time to clean up.
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Thanks to Tony at The Sad Bear for the whole story.
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The opinions expressed on this blog are just that--opinions. These are my words, no one else's, and I adhere to them.
4 comments:
I wonder, though, if my distance (ether my actual mileage, or a more time-based separation) from the old Alma Mater jades me to things such as this. I just see all the other shit in the world-- the other college campuses in which people are still harassed, others still are beaten up, a confused kid still commits suicide in a dorm room, and physical or metaphorical road-kill is still left on physical or metaphorical porches--and I wonder why Hillsdale is demonized as a result, while other schools never seem to be put in the spotlight. Is it because Hillsdale still gives conservatives a place to learn conservative thought, and the rest of academia abhor a Liberal vacuum? Is it because of the haughty, holier-than-thou attitude of many of the young people graduating from the school? I don't know, I suppose anything's possible. But, even when this stupid stuff happens--as it does at regular intervals at any place containing 18-35 year-olds, I take pride in the school, what it stands for, and the general character of those who leave campus after 4 to 6 years. Maybe it's just me, and obviously that's just my opinion. These things are nothing new, as any viewer of Animal House could speculate.
Anyway, I love the post and I read every update to write. Miss you, bro.
Two thoughts:
1) I see where Johnny's coming from. It is nice that there is a college who is (at least vocally) trying to be exemplary. And it's sad that something that happens often on other campuses is such a grave sin to a campus that really does put forth and do a lot of good.
2) On the other hand, when something/someone puts itself in the position of trying to be exemplary it automatically invites criticism.
It's like when the President of the U.S. claims he has a private life or tries to put blame on everyone but himself. If you want to be put on a pedestal you have to be, or at the very least appear, perfect.
If Hillsdale wants to keep its conservative and prudish legacy this sort of thing cannot be tolerated. It is inexcusable in that regard.
Personally, I find it funny that an innocent little prude like me lost sight of the fundy spirit while at Hillsdale. I delight in irony.
Based on some controversial events, Hillsdale's concept of virtue sometimes seems to exclude taking responsibility for one's actions.
Although we know that the individuals have come forward to college administrators, we do not know who was personally responsible for this act, nor do we know if or to what extent the college has disciplined those students.
Of course, one of the most sensational aspects of this story was the dead goat, which some suspected had been slaughtered for amusement (a felony in Michigan). Police do not, however, believe that such a crime was committed (they think it was roadkill), and this view is supported by witnesses.
Nonetheless, I think editorial intimidation and vandalism are serious offenses, especially at an academic institution which by nature requires the freedom to share ideas (even those which are unpopular, unsound, or unkind) without fear of violent retribution. Violence and intimidation have no place in a marketplace of ideas, and introducing those poisons is every bit as wrong as intimidating someone because of their race or sexual orientation. These offenses threaten the open learning environment, not to mention the strong reputation, that many students, faculty, staff, parents, and friends have worked for years to create.
Some of us may also recall an incident a few years back when two students who worked for campus security set off a "Drano bomb" in the library. Only when faced with an escalated investigation above local law enforcement did they turn themselves to the administration.
Did the college suspend or expel them, as the college is known to do for such petty offenses as possessing a few grams of marijuana? No, they just moved the offenders to a different dorm, fired them from campus security, and assigned them community service hours. They later graduated, probably with the help of scholarships that could have been given to students who wouldn't dream of vandalizing a library and putting their peers in harm's way.
It seems awfully ironic to expect students to become virtuous and principled adults when their college's administrators routinely shelter them from the consequences of criminal, unethical, and anti-academic behavior.
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