2008 Woodie Awards
Rights & Responsibility
Issue date: 5/17/02 Section: Editorial
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The last issue of The Profile generated a multitude of responses. We received high-fives, glares, letters to the editor of both praise and condemnation. Please know that we not only appreciate the variety, but hoped for it. Had everyone responded to the last issue with a resounding "yes!" there would have been no sense in printing it at all. The point of raising the issues we did was not to offer a definitive voice of what the student body thinks and feels is important. Rather, it was to begin a dialogue about what the role of students should be in campus decisions, both present and future.
In that way, I am shocked by Doug Crise's letter to the editor, especially when he stated that "the concerns of the student populace are secondary to the agenda of the administration." I heartily disagree.
And so does the administration.
If students' submissions to The Profile had been pure whining for whining's sake, they would not have been printed. They were printed because those students were deeply concerned about the issues they raised and wanted their opinions to be known. The writers names ran alongside their articles; they were putting their voices out there in the dialogue of this community. For that reason, I feel such opinions should be commended. That is what we are learning here at Hendrix: to formulate value-systems around which we can frame responsible lives. How are we to learn without practice?
The administration is to be commended as well. We have to appreciate that they not only read the student newspaper, but responded. The town meeting on Tuesday featured administrators as speakers, but also as members of the audience. Though there were disputes and disagreements, communication happened. Administrators also sought out the authors of those Profile articles and inquired as to what they would like to do about their concerns. They demonstrated that student concerns are of vital interest to administrative proceedings. This interest will be further demonstrated in the content of President Cloyd's inaugural address this afternoon.
In a meeting I had with Dr. Cloyd earlier this week, he spoke to the nature of this College. He stated that "the heart of Hendrix College is student activism, but that which makes us unique also makes us challenging." As students, it is important for us to understand the function of our ability to challenge.
There are no rights without responsibility.
Students cannot be asked to assume responsibility without being granted concurrent rights of privilege. However, we as students cannot demand those rights without recognizing the simultaneous increase in our responsibility. Please use your voice as the challenge it was meant to be.
In that way, I am shocked by Doug Crise's letter to the editor, especially when he stated that "the concerns of the student populace are secondary to the agenda of the administration." I heartily disagree.
And so does the administration.
If students' submissions to The Profile had been pure whining for whining's sake, they would not have been printed. They were printed because those students were deeply concerned about the issues they raised and wanted their opinions to be known. The writers names ran alongside their articles; they were putting their voices out there in the dialogue of this community. For that reason, I feel such opinions should be commended. That is what we are learning here at Hendrix: to formulate value-systems around which we can frame responsible lives. How are we to learn without practice?
The administration is to be commended as well. We have to appreciate that they not only read the student newspaper, but responded. The town meeting on Tuesday featured administrators as speakers, but also as members of the audience. Though there were disputes and disagreements, communication happened. Administrators also sought out the authors of those Profile articles and inquired as to what they would like to do about their concerns. They demonstrated that student concerns are of vital interest to administrative proceedings. This interest will be further demonstrated in the content of President Cloyd's inaugural address this afternoon.
In a meeting I had with Dr. Cloyd earlier this week, he spoke to the nature of this College. He stated that "the heart of Hendrix College is student activism, but that which makes us unique also makes us challenging." As students, it is important for us to understand the function of our ability to challenge.
There are no rights without responsibility.
Students cannot be asked to assume responsibility without being granted concurrent rights of privilege. However, we as students cannot demand those rights without recognizing the simultaneous increase in our responsibility. Please use your voice as the challenge it was meant to be.
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