FB: New England Small College Athletic Conference

[dlippiel]

For the record, I neither sneer at nor mock transgender students, so please don't presume to paint me with that brush.  I have plenty of flaws, but intolerance of folks with different gender preferences is not on the list.

What I do take exception to is an Administration that cannot provide adequate professors and classroom space for students to complete their majors, yet can find the funds to construct "safe spaces" in athletic locker rooms for "non-binary" students, and which allows the business of the college (educating young men and women in the fields of study they have chosen, and for which someone - either the students, their parents, or the financial aid office - has paid dearly) to be sidelined by prolonged soul-searching on these issues.

The same Administration that recoils in horror from students wearing sombreros actually PROVIDED sombreros as props in a photo booth at the 2015 reunions!  While I agree that Cracksgiving and the Gangster Party went too far, how can you persecute college kids for doing something the Administration actually ENCOURAGED at reunions?

We can agree to disagree, but your argumentum ad hominem is misplaced.

A quote dlip found hilarious that was posted to the comment section of the Washington Post Editorial:

"Meanwhile, the student newspaper is called the Orient."

[lumbercat]

I think there is a middle-ground, here.  Do I think the potential impeachment of these student government folks is flat-out ridiculous?  Yes.  Does that sombrero-themed party sound totally innocuous?  Yes once again (and I'll note that a few years back some Williams students got in hot water, in my view also stupidly, for some sort of sombrero-themed shenanigans).  Has PC culture run amok on many NESCAC campuses? Yes once again. 

On the other hand, the first two parties at Bowdoin, without which the sombrero party surely wouldn't have even been at issue, were at best in very poor taste and it is understandable how those two parties may have upset some students and created a climate of mistrust and, in this case, overreaction.  Just as often as there are ridiculous stories of laughably PC sensitivity on campus, there are also stories of rich, entitled white kids doing dumb thinks like having crack whore parties or putting on dreads and blackface.  I mean, come on.  And PolarCat, your outright sneering mockery of transgender students (as well as similar intolerance or outright bigotry from some of the older generations of alums and parents at some NESCAC schools towards types of behavior and identity that was forced to be carefully hidden until very, very recently in our history) is partially responsible for creating the current climate.  A climate which, again, I do see as an egregious and readily-mockable overreaction, borne out of very real concerns and life experiences that, frankly, may be hard to understand or relate to for someone like myself (and presumably you) who has never been insulted, mocked, socially isolated or in any way faced any obstacle on account of my race, gender, or sexuality.

Nescac1
Middle ground? If you are aligned with the Bowdoin position on these PC issues just state that up front, I respect your opinion.

[nescac1]

I'm not aligned with the Bowdoin position, I just felt (like Pat, apparently) that some of PolarCat's rhetoric was a bit too strident, snarky, and dismissive, which isn't really helpful.  But yeah, I feel like Bowdoin's reaction to the latest incident is beyond ridiculous.  I don't know enough about Bowdoin's campus climate, generally, to comment otherwise. 

[pg04]

For the record, I neither sneer at nor mock transgender students, so please don't presume to paint me with that brush.  I have plenty of flaws, but intolerance of folks with different gender preferences is not on the list.

Oh really?

The same issue of the Bowdoin Orient that discusses the impeachment, carries an article about how all future Bowdoin facilities will have non-gender-specific restrooms, and "safe spaces" in the locker rooms for athletes who can't decide if they are feeling like a he or a she on any given day.  Plus an editorial from a student who professes his/her sexuality as "non-binary", applauding the decision.

The Bowdoin Administration has jumped the shark.  Spare yourself the gas, and don't even bother bringing your boy to Brunswick.  Unless Caitlin Jenner is his idol, and he wants to major in Non-Binary Gender Studies, with a minor in The History of Microaggression.

Hmmm I don't know, these statements seem both sneering and mocking to me.

[pg04]

For the record I am not calling you intolerant but I wanted to point out what I feel to be a blatant conflict between two of your statements, to maybe show where Pat and Nescac1 were coming from .

[PolarCat]

For the record I am not calling you intolerant but I wanted to point out what I feel to be a blatant conflict between two of your statements, to maybe show where Pat and Nescac1 were coming from .

I am not intolerant.  But I am angry.  Angry that I am paying over $60,000/year and my daughter's education is being usurped by this. Angry that the Administration is acquiescing to the demands of all these special interests, while disrupting the education of the non-minorities.  The latest development being a campus-wide email announcing a meeting later today to discuss how Canada Goose jackets are a symbol of economic oppression, and that the girls who wear them (like my daughter) should be sanctioned. 

Meanwhile, there is a sexual predator targeting white girls in Brunswick, and the same Administration will not address that issue.  If you don't like my rhetoric when I get worked up, so be it.  And if you are non-binary and my rhetoric offended you, I apologize.

Now, can we get back to football?

[fulbakdad]

First, AMH, of course I am kidding.  I obviously haven't posted on this board very much or you would have known that.

Second, I side with PolarCat.  I'll side with anyone fighting with Pat, right Pat?  lol. (actually we made nice nice).

Third, If you knew me, you'd know I am VERY tolerant of peoples choices.  I grew up with a fanatically radical gay brother whom I supported with a fist pump saying "you go Bro!".  But even he, if he were still alive, would be shaking his head saying "this stuff is getting crazy!"

[PolarCat]

It gets curiouser and curiouser.  Here's an update from the Washington Post: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/rampage/wp/2016/03/04/bowdoin-update-on-facebook-school-flaunted-photos-of-alumni-students-in-school-provided-sombreros/

[amh63]

fullbakdad.....You may have read my post wrong.  Whatever. 
PolarCat....I will cover your back if needed. 

[hamfan88]

Don't know if you mean to imply that the alleged perpetrator is non-white, but I don't think you could throw a rock in Brunswick, Maine and not hit a white girl. Just an observation.

[Grabowski]

If PolarCat's rant is wrong, I don't want to be right.  Very funny, some great points, and all great comedians at least step on the lines once in a while. 

And I don't want to stir this pot, the rebukes were gentle and made their point effectively, happy to move on.

On the Goose jackets, these kids are spending somebody's quarter of a million bucks.  They should start protesting their own luxury education while they are at it.

[Grabowski]

Would like to hear about returning starters.  Who has what coming back next year?

[PolarCat]

Don't know if you mean to imply that the alleged perpetrator is non-white, but I don't think you could throw a rock in Brunswick, Maine and not hit a white girl. Just an observation.

No I did not mean to imply that at all.  The perp(s) is/are most definitely white.  (It's unclear at this point if the rape, sexual assaults, and gross lewdness are all from the same perp).  And he is not "alleged" because he exposed himself to PolarKitten Thursday.  She was smart enough to resist asking him if his nickname was "Shorty", but instead called 911 with his license plate.

What I did mean to imply is that all of the victims so far have been white female students, and the Administration has done nothing that we can see: no letters to parents, no self-defense classes, no offer to have male athletes walk unaccompanied females back to their dorms at night, no campus wide meetings (like the one they called to excoriate the girls with Canada Goose coats), etc.  And I can't help but wonder if they would have had a different response if one or more of the victims had been Black, Latinx (the new term; ends with an X instead of an O or A), or transgender.

The white girls at Bowdoin are living in fear of a rapist, while non-white students are clamoring for safe spaces because they feel "terrorized" by miniature sombreros,  and traumatized by changing in the locker rooms in front of cis-gender peers.  Don't take my word for it: read the student newspaper, the Bowdoin Orient.

Just to put an exclamation point on all this: the first and second (and maybe third) sexual assault happened on Tuesday nights.  It turns out the First Parish Church (on Maine Street, abutting the College, and you need to walk past it to get to the downtown merchants, restaurants, grocery store and Gelato Fiasco) had been hosting a support group for Sex Offenders on Tuesday nights.  Literally within 50 feet of the campus.  And the Administration was clueless.  Can you understand why the white female students feel targeted on all fronts?

[hamfan88]

Terribly sorry that happened to your daughter. It has no place on any college campus--especially on a NESCAC campus, where the respective administrations pride themselves on providing safe environments.

[RetiredMule]

So let me get this straight, I leave for a week and everyone starts discussing two of my favorite non-directly-football topics? I feel shorted.  The eventual death of football (NESCAC or otherwise) and the growth of PC/acceptance culture are two things I could talk about for days.  I will attempt to discuss both as a more recent graduate than some other members of the board.

Football will die. That is without a doubt and an inevitable outcome for our game.  Now does it go the way of croquet where it slowly fades or does it have a guillotine style moment.  I think it will be a slow burn throughout the coming years, but the end is coming.  The issues come from the evolving wealth of knowledge about the issues resulting from head injuries and the evolution of our second topic: PC culture.  I know some posters noted that these are at greater levels at Big Time football and the Pros.  But there have been posthumous diagnoses in high school football players of CTE (the disease at the center of this). Furthermore, we have seen diagnoses in hockey players and boxers.  On top of that, there have been increasing studies about the traumatic affects of not just the large BANG style concussion hits but the damage caused by repetitive sub-concussive hits (think linemen).  Couple that with the rise of a PC culture that is against institutions that promote "hyper-masculinity" and violence, eventually the public outcry will be too great to withstand.  I think it will definitely stat with smaller schools, and perhaps the Polar Bears for the NESCAC, but I do not have complete confidence that children born today (03/08/2016) will watch college football in its current form.  I would bet that college football is dead by 2040, a long time frame but a realistic one. 

Now to discuss the Bowdoin incidents, crises, to-dos.  There has been a slow rise in the political correctness in the college culture.  Perhaps it started with the hippies in the 60s but it has definitely hit a fever pitch with the millennial generation.  This is a generation that was raised on sensitivity, don't-say-no parenting and participation trophies.  They have been given everything and coddled to believe they are the special little snowflakes that deserve to be individual and special and accepted no matter what.  What this has given rise to is a generation or more specifically a vocal minority of a generation that believes that they can right the injustices and inequalities of the world through loud public outcry.  More importantly, they believe that there should be a complete erasure of any issues as they so deem.  You have seen this take shape in a number of ways recently, the Bowdoin outcry, the Black Lives Matter movement amongst others.  It is interesting to note that a lot of these issues raised by Social Justice Warriors (SJW) are divided along racial (the sombreros) and socio-economic (the Canada Goose coats) lines. 

The SJWs in a way look to see the removal of these cultural, gender/sexual, socioeconomic lines through their protests and movements.  Perhaps interestingly though is the flaws in the tactics used.  While it would be hard for one to deny that all races, socioeconomic classes or gender/sexual orientations should be afforded the same rights and opportunities, it seems that the tactics and approaches are at odds with these ideas.  One of the biggest issues raised these groups in the sombrero incident is the idea of "cultural appropriation".  Through the idea of cultural appropriation is that cultures should not take from each other in any way that could be seen as stereotypical or racist.  Now this swings in two ways from don't be a d*ck to as far as non-joking suggestions of segregation.  But this idea is now generally used in the context of the Bowdoin incident so that people can tag seemingly racial-fueled aggression to a mostly or completely benign event.  It is not as though this was the "Cartel Party" or "Mexican Fiesta" or "Central American Bash", this was a Tequila party hosted by a girl who is half-Colombian. 

SJW want to see an end of "triggering" events and "microaggressions".  These ideas center around the idea that small conscious or non-conscious actions represent traumatizing events for our special snowflakes.  Triggering can be a small as some perceived slight to using hate speech (the obvious one).  But it does seem a bit  ridiculous at times.  Wearing a coat that not all people can afford? Microagression.  But like I said, it seems ridiculous that colleges have to become safe spaces to shelter and guard children from any form of discomfort.  College is supposed to be a time for individuals to challenge their world views and expand their horizons.  It is supposed to be a time in life to face ideas different from your own.  It should not be a place where individuals are allowed or feel the need to run to protection every time something does not agree with them or they do not like the context of something.  Now I am hardly advocating for people to be challenged with blatantly racist or otherwise deplorable things, but when we have reached a time where every situation must be focus grouped and prodded for any form of liability or issue, we have defeated the point of college.  Issues of races/religion/sexuality/socioeconomics should not be reduced to what someone can find by skimming every scenario with a fine toothed comb, otherwise we should resort to a society where we all where identical clothes fasioned in agendered ways and participate and speak in activities that remove all individuality from them.  For perhaps the world these groups seek is one where all people are completely identical, and what is less problematic than a place where we all look act and speak in monotones.