FB: New England Small College Athletic Conference

[gridiron]

My Alma Mater is Dartmouth,

Amazed at how many parents from Ivy league schools have sons and daughters attend NESCAC institutions.  I believe it speaks to the quality of the education and the differences between small and large college settings.

[Panthernation]

Though not technically about football, here's a news item that does impact a bunch of football players at one NESCAC school.

Tim Foster, Bowdoin's Dean of Student Affairs, has just sent a strongly-worded rebuke to the Bowdoin community for a most heinous, politically-incorrect crime against humanity.  The crime?

This year (as in years past) the off campus house that includes many of the Polar Bear Men's Lacrosse team as members, hosted a Thanksgiving celebration party.  A theme party.  A costume party, at which guest were invited to celebrate the original Thanksgiving by dressing up as either Pilgrims or Native Americans.  A gathering re-enacted with great approval at Plimoth Plantation (yep, that's how they spell it), the beloved site which re-enacts the original Plimoth settlement to the delight of small children, PBS and educators everywhere.

My child at Bowdoin reports there were no ugly caricatures at the party; certainly nothing so offensive as Chief Wahoo, or the logo of the-football-team-from-Washington-which-must-not-be-named.  Just a good humored party to celebrate the season (as opposed to the unimaginative keggers that are de riguer).

Apparently the painfully PC Bowdoin Administration took great offense to this "hate crime".  So much so that they have promised "disciplinary action against those who recently dressed in Native American attire, since this is 'conduct unbecoming of a Bowdoin student'".

Strangely enough, there is no similar punishment for those who dressed in Pilgrim attire.  I am not sure if that is because the Pilgrims have a better sense of humor, or that they just haven't attracted the sort of leadership hell-bent on protecting their image and their rights.

There is talk of cancelling the Bowdoin Men's Lacrosse season.  (And in the wonderful NESCAC tradition of multi-sport athletes, many members of the football team are also members of the lacrosse team).

(Facepalm)

This would be standard fare at Middlebury. As others have suggested, it is the prevalent attitude throughout higher education. The majority of faculty, students (including athletes) and administrators are looking for reasons to be offended on behalf of select demographics.

The underlying tension between this attitude and sport — an expressly meritocratic enterprise — has not yet made its mark.

[Jonny Utah]

My Alma Mater is Dartmouth,

Amazed at how many parents from Ivy league schools have sons and daughters attend NESCAC institutions.  I believe it speaks to the quality of the education and the differences between small and large college settings.

I think a big part of it is that you can go to a nescac school for undergrad, and an IVY for grad school.  Plus a lot of nescac schools are rural settings, where kids might not need a city for excitement, but Ivys provide more stuff to do for your 22-26 year old.

[quicksilver]

I'm likely more on the left side of the political spectrum than many fellow posters but have never been a fan of the PC approach. It is not as though you necessarily produce an open minded, sensitive person by micro-regulating conduct that many would regard as not truly offensive. And, in this case, it is almost as though the dean and the lax players were looking to pick a fight with each other. The dean who rendered this decision is the king of PC as he has sanctioned the tennis team for a scavenger hunt, the hockey team for a post-season party that involved minor league drinking by the freshmen, and a singing group for similarly innocuous "bonding" activities . .     

[Bombers798891]

Though not technically about football, here's a news item that does impact a bunch of football players at one NESCAC school.

Tim Foster, Bowdoin's Dean of Student Affairs, has just sent a strongly-worded rebuke to the Bowdoin community for a most heinous, politically-incorrect crime against humanity.  The crime?

This year (as in years past) the off campus house that includes many of the Polar Bear Men's Lacrosse team as members, hosted a Thanksgiving celebration party.  A theme party.  A costume party, at which guest were invited to celebrate the original Thanksgiving by dressing up as either Pilgrims or Native Americans.  A gathering re-enacted with great approval at Plimoth Plantation (yep, that's how they spell it), the beloved site which re-enacts the original Plimoth settlement to the delight of small children, PBS and educators everywhere.

My child at Bowdoin reports there were no ugly caricatures at the party; certainly nothing so offensive as Chief Wahoo, or the logo of the-football-team-from-Washington-which-must-not-be-named.  Just a good humored party to celebrate the season (as opposed to the unimaginative keggers that are de riguer).

Apparently the painfully PC Bowdoin Administration took great offense to this "hate crime".  So much so that they have promised "disciplinary action against those who recently dressed in Native American attire, since this is 'conduct unbecoming of a Bowdoin student'".

Strangely enough, there is no similar punishment for those who dressed in Pilgrim attire.  I am not sure if that is because the Pilgrims have a better sense of humor, or that they just haven't attracted the sort of leadership hell-bent on protecting their image and their rights.

There is talk of cancelling the Bowdoin Men's Lacrosse season.  (And in the wonderful NESCAC tradition of multi-sport athletes, many members of the football team are also members of the lacrosse team).

(Facepalm)

You're leaving out some information:

http://www.sunjournal.com/news/0001/11/30/bowdoin-college-disciplines-lacrosse-players-dressing-native-americans/1629794

"The incident follows a similar party last year that prompted faculty and members of the Native American Students Association to hold events designed to raise awareness of "cultural appropriation,"

"Only weeks ago, student leaders held a "Cultural Appropriation Fashion Show" in order to educate students about inappropriate costumes."

"Fourteen of the team's approximately 50 members — some of them residents of the house — dressed as Native Americans, he said, "even after some of the team's other members actively tried to talk them out of it.

The issue, it seems, is not just about if the costumes in question were offensive to whomever. It's that something like this had occurred the year before, and that there's been a concerted effort to tell students what was and was not appropriate, so much so that the players' own teammates cautioned them against dressing up as Native Americans. And that the players, apparently, decided to continue with the same tradition that led to an issue the year before.

That changes things. Now, it's not just a question of "Is what you're doing inappropriate?" It's a question of "We talked about this, and it's still a problem." I don't know if they were told not to dress up like Native Americans or not, but if they were, that becomes a bigger issue than "We find this to be offensive"

[quicksilver]

yes -- it was an in-your-face act by the lax players so kind of foolish, given the PC history of this dean, but I would still contend that you should not have to fall into line at an off-campus location because "student leaders" sponsored a "cultural appropriation fashion show" and declared certain costume parties to be off-limits . .

[quicksilver]

And here's a link to the dean's letter to the student body with regard to the incident.

[PolarCat]

After reading the letter, scroll down to the comments.  Priceless.

Wish there was a way to blast email the link to the 500 largest Bowdoin donors. 

[polbear73]

Have no fear, PolarCat, it is spreading quickly.

[lumbercat]

A question for the Bowdoin followers.... with Caputi gone have they designated anyone to steer the ship until the new coach comes aboard.....who is handling recruiting?
How do you recruit a kid to a team without a leader, a very tough time of year to be without a head coach or at least an interim HC.

[banfan]

By the way, the Bowdoin story is in the Portland Press Herald and on Maine Public Radio.

[polbear73]

LumberCat:  Bowdoin is keeping things close to the vest but I assume that one of the assistants is temporarily in charge under the direction of AD Tim Ryan, who has a football background.  Your points about the difficulty of keeping recruits are well taken-throw in a new President coming on board in June and you have real challenges. 

[banfan]

Actually, this whole Bowdoin incident and its ripple affects seems to indicate a lack of leadership. With an AD under some pressure and a new Football Coach yet hired and a yet un-installed new President, it seems that this could have been handled differently. Less impactfully.

[JEFFFAN]

yes -- it was an in-your-face act by the lax players so kind of foolish, given the PC history of this dean, but I would still contend that you should not have to fall into line at an off-campus location because "student leaders" sponsored a "cultural appropriation fashion show" and declared certain costume parties to be off-limits . .

With a whole lot of history with lacrosse playing children ... the sport has been under the microscope since the Duke debacle in 2006.  (What is it about southern schools jumping to conclusions ... hello Rolling Stone!)  Coaches know that and the kids should probably have been reminded of the same.  Having said that, your question about off-campus location is precisely the issue that Amherst faced last year when it got rid of off-campus frats.  Even some of the most left-leaning professors protested by saying that the school had no right to dictate policy with off-campus activities.  Needless to say, the school won ...

[gridiron]

Has to be a very difficult environment in which to recruit for Bowdoin.  Student athlete football players looking at NESCAC schools tend to have options with others in the league.  Given the uncertainty of the coaching situation, etc., many recruits will pursue other options--just the way it is.

Colby had a similar situation in 2011 when the head coach left at the end of the season and a replacement was not named until February of 2012.  To bridge the gap the offensive coordinator handled recruiting for the period but the understanding was he would still be there once a HC replacement was selected, so there would be some sort of continuity maintained.  In the end, he ended up being named HC himself.