Here’s what I’m looking forward to

“The angry -ensons,” huh? Believe it or not, I’m honored to be the butt of such a clever pun. Not only because it means I’ve engaged another student, but because I’m in very flattering company, i.e. Steve Denson, who wrote an insightful article last week on immigration.

In the last few weeks, I have been taken to task, and perhaps rightly so, about comments I have made regarding everything from Republican-based homophobia to Republican anti-immigration efforts. I’ve been told that I’m too sensitive, too vocal, too opinionated and uninformed.

As a rule, I don’t respond in public to students who criticize me in this forum. Partly, because once I broach a topic, there are more than enough responses on both sides of the argument. And, in the long run, I prefer to allow students to duke it out – Marquess of Queensberry rules, of course.

Also, I prefer to avoid the appearance of a faculty member picking on a student – even though some students who contribute to this page are more than capable of defending themselves.

Last Friday, Kyle Snyder, the talented author of the clever wordplay, “the angry -ensons,” criticized me for being negative and pessimistic, writing, “I find myself wondering what Professor Henson looks forward to each day. I would love to see a Henson column about what our generation has to be excited about for our future as voting, tax paying American citizens.”

Fair enough. And assuming Mr. Snyder is sincere, I will accept his invitation. Let me warn you, however, that I don’t possess a crystal ball, so I can’t pretend to tell you what exciting things will happen. I will say this: The future is shaped by the present, so what students do today will determine what kind of tomorrow they will inherit.

Nevertheless, I’m happy to see Mr. Snyder thinking about the future. The college experience, like most things, is what you make of it. It can be a prolonged distraction – a layover – from reality; it can be a blurb on a resume – or it can be the beginning of a lifelong experience. Remember, a commencement by definition is not the end of a journey, but rather the beginning.

But you asked about me. What do I look forward to? I look forward to teaching – although sometimes I wonder if all of my students are as eager to learn. As any teacher will tell you, however, the ones who are here to learn more than compensate for the ones who aren’t. No teacher is naive enough to believe that every student is fully engaged every day in every class. And while that makes teaching difficult, it also makes it challenging.

I look forward to reading the Daily Campus because it provides a window through which I can begin to understand students’ perspectives. One of the realities of teaching is that while the age of students is static, the way each generation sees the world is dynamic.

I look forward to students becoming engaged. The last four weeks have inspired me immeasurably. I have seen more activism, debate and intellectual exchange going on among students in the last four weeks than in the previous three years I have taught at SMU.

Prejudices have been exposed. Differences of opinion have been aired. Viewpoints have been expressed. Ideas have been exchanged. Not everyone has agreed. There has been acrimony – some hostility – but a much-needed dialogue has taken place. And such is the essence of learning.

As for the future, young Goodman Snyder, to quote Nathaniel Hawthorne, “Let us walk on, nevertheless, reasoning as we go, and if I convince thee not, thou shalt turn back.”

I look forward to a future in which students will be as engaged in politics as they are in partying. A future in which students pay as close attention to whom they vote for as what they wear. A future in which students take an active role in the world they live in – in which their worth is determined by their accomplishments and not their trust fund.

I look forward to a future in which politicians serve their constituents rather than their donors. A future in which ideas are valued as much – nay, more – than money. I look forward to a future in which democracy is perfected rather than practiced.

I look forward to a future in which SMU’s student body is as diverse as the country they live in. A future in which SMU pays its lecturers a third as much as it pays its coachs – if you’ll allow me that small indulgence.

A future in which shrines are built to intellectuals rather than football players. A future in which alumni pay to have their names on endowed professorships, as well as monuments of brick and mortar.

I look forward to a future in which no student at SMU will write faggot on anyone’s door or joke on Facebook about dressing up in black face. A future in which students post as many photos of their volunteer work as they do their drunken self-indulgence.

I look forward to a future in which no one has to deny his ontology. A future in which bigots who argue for the right to be bigots, are given no credence. I look forward to a future in which SMU is no longer the butt of jokes about spoiled rich kids; a future in which the bubble that engulfs this campus bursts and is never again inflated.

I look forward to opening the paper or turning on the TV and reading about a student from SMU who has achieved something remarkable. And, believe it or not, young Goodman Snyder, I look forward to reading more of your columns. You’re a talented writer – who has the potential to help shape a remarkable future.

George Henson is a Spanish lecturer. He can be reached at [email protected].