Dear Editor:

After reading the Oct. 22nd commentary section of The Daily Campus, I have finally reached my boiling point with many students at this university, different commentary writers, and The Daily Campus itself.

Miss Sneller’s article (“Where’s the college?”) raises various questions which leave the reader wondering what her intentions were.

To begin with, she cites her friend who is a student at Texas A&M University as someone who receives an incredibly diverse college experience. However, none of the concepts in Miss Sneller’s ideal college setting describe Texas A&M University whatsoever. Students of Texas A&M have been widely considered as highly conservative, discriminatory and close-minded (The Princeton Review). I am sure that Miss Sneller herself claims to be none of these things.

I must ask what Miss Sneller aims to achieve by having students rebel or “kick a hackey sack” or wear “wacky” clothes. If Miss Sneller believes that we need to have our lives changed in college, then I completely agree. However, college is not about the clothes we wear, the “break dancing clubs” we open or the lack of “creepy pale kids.” If I leave college knowing more about myself and my beliefs than when I entered, I will not consider my four years here a waste of $100,000. That is what college is about.

I challenge my fellow students to break down the various “Greek vs. non-Greek” stereotypes that currently exist. After a Homecoming week in which Greek attendance figures were significantly higher than the approximate 35 percent of the student body they compose, any Greek stereotype better be strongly backed up with facts. Campus apathy toward alternative fashion styles and rebellious actions is not the problem with SMU. The intolerance, arrogance and disrespect that many of our students show towards one another far outweighs my J. Crew khaki pants or Republican party affiliation.

Evan Shaver
Senior advertising, marketing major