The Whitworthian

Issue date: 12/4/07 Last Updated: 12/7/07

Whitworth just isn't as welcoming as it portrays itself to be. Whitworth - and by that I mean the institutional culture that we each contribute to - tries, unsuccessfully, to masks its biases. We like people who love Bill Robinson and America, too.

We embrace diversity, but only within the Christian community. And although we would like to think we love everyone, we just can't help it: We like people better when they're just like us.

These 10 groups are in some way ostracized by our community.

Before we even get know them, we've decided that they aren't one of us. Perhaps we should look a little closer and re-think that assumption.

You have 'extreme' Political Views.

At Whitworth, conservatism and liberalism are equally disdained.

The appropriate Whitworth political ideology is morally conservative, liberal on issues of social justice and of course pro-Earth.

We must oppose killing babies and marrying gays, fight for the rights of the oppressed and save the environment… all by raising awareness.

"If you are less than moderate, you know if you are on either side of the fence to any degree, you can be in trouble around here. I think Whitworth likes its fence," junior Seth Flory says.

We are centrist and apathetic, which means conversations about the intricacies of political views seldom occur.

Instead, our political discourse is limited to "are you or aren't you?" questions.

If you believe in tougher immigration policies, you are racist. Pro-choice? No, baby-killer.

"I think there's too much apathy, and I don't think Whitworth as a whole is trying to battle apathy. I think they're trying to maintain the status quo," says James Radcliffe, senior history major and president of the College Republicans club.

You write for the Whitworthian.

"I know people don't like me," says Jessica Davis, senior journalism and history major and online content editor for The Whitworthian.

Davis has written for The Whitworthian for 3 1/2 years and been an editor for 2 1/2 years. Some of what she has written for The Whitworthian has received backlash

Though Davis feels many people respect her, she says some people fear her or even hate her. She believes much of this is due to a culture of non-confrontation at Whitworth, because as a reporter she confronts campus issues.

"There's the sense on the campus community that many people here prefer to deal with things behind closed doors. Sometimes it appears things get swept under the rug," Davis says.

Students are often oblivious to what goes on in ASWU, the administration and those mysterious Board of Trustees meetings. We are all shocked, then, when The Whitworthian unearths a controversial issue.

It is incredibly hard for students to get more than a carefully sugarcoated account of administration, trustee and faculty happenings, even if those issues and decisions affect us personally.

I, too, have felt some Whitworthian coverage to be sensationalist at times.

But it is in our interest for someone to be digging into important issues on our campus.

You Don't Shy Away from Conflict.

Much like Soviet Russia and the United States under the Patriot Act, we at Whitworth forego many freedoms to protect what we hold dearest.

"Community" here is about avoiding conflict, and controversial conversations are held in private.

As the M.O. of a university, this approach keeps our engagement with important issues at a rather superficial level.

"I think it hurts Whitworth in that sometimes you have to break something to fix it," Jessica Davis says. "I think that you can have the good of Whitworth at heart and still be confrontational."

At a school this small, we should approach our community as one big marriage.

If we don't work through our differences, we will end up sleeping in separate beds and divorcing after the kids move out.

"I feel that at Whitworth there's this image that everybody's supposed to get along and be happy," senior peace studies major Shaina Western says. "I feel like there's an over-emphasis on pretending you are and shutting up."

You Smoke.

Seth Flory is a smoker. He is also a freakishly intelligent philosophy and economics major, Warren senator and a stellar dancer.

He obviously has a lot to offer Whitworth, but he feels many people would rather not have him at Whitworth because he smokes.

Flory says he has heard at least half a dozen people say they visited other schools and were turned off by smokers there, so they came here where they felt smoking is not part of the culture.

"That makes me feel like I'm not recognized as part of the community because smokers aren't supposed to be here," Flory says.

Another smoker has heard students say "Thanks for the sin" as they passed him by.

If we judge something as superficial as smoking, we may miss out on great conversations and rad dance parties with an intriguing person like Seth.

You are Vegan.

Unless you really like garbanzo beans, save your idealistic dietary endeavors for after college. Students are required to live on campus for the first two years - and required to purchase a meal plan while living on campus.

Though Sodexho is making great strides toward environmental sustainability, vegan dishes remain few and far between.

Not only are they lacking, it is fairly difficult to find out what is vegan in the dining hall or Café. Signs indicating which dishes are vegan would be a good start.

You're not a Christian.

Whitworth goes above and beyond trying to bring diversity to Whitworth and embrace it. But by diversity, we mean different skin tones and ethnicities, all united by our love for Christ.

Non-Christians are often excluded. Frankly, Whitworth does a poor job of giving balanced consideration to perspectives that are not Christian. As a result, non-Christians feel out of place and Christians never have to take an honest look at opposing views.

Atheists, agnostics and the confused are simply damned to hell. If you are Buddhist, Muslim, Baha'i, or Hindu, you will be featured in a Whitworthian article… then damned to hell.

"Diversity within the Christian community is no such diversity," Irish exchange student Fran Abbs says. "To me, the school does not do enough to promote diversity in its true sense."

Western feels the overused term "non-Christians" is evidence of ignorance toward other beliefs.

"I hate saying that I'm a non-Christian because it defines me by what I'm not. I'm also a non-Buddhist, a non-Muslim and a non-whole host of other things," Western says.

She says the administration should invite more non-Christian speakers to campus.

"The non-Christian viewpoint gets marginalized as heretical, and so I don't get a chance to hear a debate from any other viewpoints," Western says.

You are KWRS Radio.

Our eclectic little radio station will soon be off the air. This is not just a tragedy for those of us who need to feel like we have culture at our school. It is also another small, community operation bulldozed by corporate evil.

"Any communications major can tell you that the media world is being splattered with the blood of the little guy," wrote Whitworthian opinions columnist Rebecca Snape in her Oct. 23 column.

It's great that "the whole world" has access to KWRS via its Web site, but it's just not the same. KWRS will lose what is now its main audience when it is off the air.

Furthermore, this wasn't even the radio station's decision, according to communication studies department chair Ginny Whitehouse.

"Our two biggest audiences are people who listen in their cars and people who listen at Prime Time," KWRS music director Caleb Knox in an Oct. 2 article in The Whitworthian. "If we go off the air, we lose half our audience immediately."

You're in Young Life.

Hanging out with Young Life leaders can feel like being the new kid at youth group: Lots of inside jokes, Bible verse sweatshirts, and piles of people on couches giving backrubs and playing with each others' hair.

Everybody hates them because they're so dang happy.

Freshman and Young Life leader Megan Bechtold agrees that people may feel excluded by groups of Young Life leaders.

She doesn't see this cliquey tendency as unique to Young Life, though.

"I think that Young Life will fall victim to that just like any other organization could," Bechtold says. "It's not something that the organization needs to take the blame for but the people who are doing that."

You're gay.

Officially, Whitworth does not take a stance on homosexuality. Given a culture of ignorance on the issue, however, administration's silence on the issue results in gay students feeling isolated and victimized.

Last spring Jessica Davis conducted an interview with members of administration about the Board of Trustees' decision to not add "sexual orientation" to the non-discrimination policy.

"The college is trying very much to continue the same ethos of exchange of ideas and freedom of conscious on this issue," Vice President for Student Life Kathy Storm said in the Davis interview.

Trustees deemed the change in policy to be too cumbersome in its implementation, but public universities all over the state have somehow managed.

Abbs has been negatively impacted by Whitworth's ambiguity on the issue.

"I think almost because the university won't take a stance, that it feels as bad as if they had taken a negative stance toward it," Abbs says.

Abbs says he feels "socially unsafe" at Whitworth - not physically threatened, but as if it is socially risky to expose his sexual orientation to his peers.

You're 'Racist.'

In the explosion of racial conflict last spring, the "racist" label was passed out like candy. It is easy to cry "racist" when someone disagrees with us on a specific race-related issue, but we should resist.

Junior communications major Chris Caldwell spoke against the actions of his fellow minorities during the conflict last year. Some of his peers felt betrayed by his criticism.

"It's hard because I'm half black and I kind of have to ride the fence," Caldwell said. "Everyone expects me to agree with them, but I don't."

Chris's disapproval of his fellow students' actions does not imply he is racially insensitive. He was challenging their behavior, not judging them for their race.

Constructive conversations about race will not occur if we are unwilling to accept a wide variety of ideas for what ideal race relations look like.

Gay vegan smokers are Whitworthians too. Let's be a messy community full of colorful discourse - one where everyone, with their own idiosyncratic personalities, can play a part.

Erika Prins is an opinions columnist and a senior majoring in International Studies and Spanish. Contact her at erika.prins@whitworthian.com.

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