[1489] in Discussion of MIT-community interests
What we may have missed
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Robert M. Randolph)
Wed Oct 8 11:47:17 2003
Date: Wed, 8 Oct 2003 11:19:19 -0400
From: "Robert M. Randolph" <randolph@MIT.EDU>
To: MIT-Talk@MIT.EDU
Friends, I lurk on this list and often read with value what is
written. One of the things, however, that does not seem to have made
it to the surface in the current conversation is the notion of
responsibility/accountability. There is not such thing as free
speech; there are consequences to what we say and do. President Vest
takes responsibility for what has said and the criticism/praise that
has followed is appropriate and pushes the dialogue forward. We all
deal with the implications of his words.
From what I gather, the students involved in this incident have taken
responsibility for their actions and are involved in the process of
determining what that means for them. One thing I do know is that the
discipline system has education as its primary intent; all of our
disciplinary processes should have growth and new understandings as
an outcome. We may disagree on the means to growth, but that is what
the process is about.
In a community words can harm and gestures hurt. One can avoid the
language on a CD by not listening; you can avert your eyes from
offensive words or graffiti. In a perfect world people might respond
to these words and gestures in a salutary fashion, but it is
impossible to always be responding to the ignorance and insensitivity
of others. That is why we have systems in place that deal with issues
like harassment, intimidation, etc. It is appropriate that those
systems work here.
There may be a generational dimension to this since in over a half
century of living my generation has seen the results of harassment
and intimidation played out on the stage of history. We do not give
students today the respect they deserve if we do not hold them
accountable for their actions and do not believe they are able to
learn from our collective experience. We all know that notions of
humor and parody have changed. We all see the consequences of those
changes and it is appropriate that when boundaries of civility are
crossed that the community responds. Sensitivities may change as a
result and those held accountable may learn a few things about their
community.
--
------------------
Dr.Robert M. Randolph
Sr. Associate Dean
Office of the Dean for Student Life
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Bldg. 4-110
77 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge, MA 02139
voice: (617) 253-4052
fax: (617) 258-0799
Housemaster: Bexley Hall
(617-225-8160)
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