A campus newspaper aims to inform and educate its community ofissues — whether local or international — that affectstudents, faculty and staff. The editorial page hopes to fosterdiscourse between members of the community.
On both counts, we were outdone on Tuesday night.
“Affirmative Action & SMU: Let’s Talk”educated through its panel lecture on historical developments inaffirmative action and an analysis of the college admissionsprocess. More impressively, it afforded students and faculty aforum for mature expression on a controversial topic.
The student leaders responsible for organizing and executing theprogram deserve our praise. Every detail of the evening wasdelicately and thoroughly planned, and the event undoubtedly ranksamong the most important in SMU’s recent history.
The outstanding attendance at Tuesday’s forum is a primeexample of an encouraging trend. “Fighting the lame quotientat SMU” and “A campus-wide call to arms,”commentaries written by Ed Board members, have not fallen on deafears. (Although the bake sale had much more to do with incitingdebate than our meager requests.) The level of discussion, debateand voicing of opinions this semester has been outstanding. Ed.Board’s mailbox was stuffed with letters to the editor andcommentary submissions in the week following the YoungConservatives protest. Students conversed between classes andposted thoughts on our Web site.
Discourse hasn’t been limited to affirmative action,however. A particularly unpopular editorial suggesting areplacement for our Shetland pony received 18 online responses, acommentary, and a plethora of letters. While comments on allmatters have ranged from provocative to unintelligible, we applaudany effort to express one’s opinions.
Admittedly, we did not expect the outpouring of opinions on thestout stead. Sometimes the commentary well runs dry, and wearen’t sure if anyone is reading the page at all.
But in light of recent student involvement through commentary,opinion editorials, and the open discourse that finds its way ontothe op-ed page, we must abrogate former claims of studentapathy.
While it is certain that there will always remain the die-hardcampus “slackers,” we can now appreciate the latentpotential of a student body that has come alive in the pastmonth.
But we can’t bask in the afterglow of a controversialfire-starter. Hopefully students will take what they’velearned about the free exchange of opinions and ideas, and come toexpect such discourse from the SMU community on regular basis.
And remember: If students return to the less-than-interestedstate we once knew, a relentless Ed Board will gladly supply enoughfodder to keep the … err … ponies (not horses) chomping atthe bit.
