2008 Woodie Awards
SRU-Not for You?
Issue date: 3/2/07 Section: Rocket Letters
It seems that certain student writers at The Rocket seek an educational environment that is built on mediocrity; an environment in which views are not challenged and one's mind-set never changes. Well if that's you're goal, Mr. Klein, then I'm proud to say that SRU is just not for you.
These students, who you seem to have issue with, are experiencing SRU the way many students do: as an opportunity to expand one's understanding of the world around them, to take on beliefs that are fostered by their educational setting and to challenge the norms of society. SRU provides many students with the opportunity to change their lives and stand up for what they believe in; granted many students do not put this much effort into their college experience and those students may leave SRU an unchanged individual, but these students whose views you find extreme will leave SRU much more fulfilled by their "extremism."
It is utterly predictable to read yet another critique of feminism at SRU as "man-hating" and "distorted." Before you are ignorant enough to put your opinion in writing, perhaps you should consider the following issues: feminists at SRU work to raise awareness about issues such as rape and violence toward women through events such as Take Back the Night and the Vagina Monologues. They are actually making a difference. Feminists on campus organize networking opportunities that help many students, not just women, develop into progressive leaders who are culturally aware. Many college campuses are full of activist organizations that point out the "horrid oppression" that minority groups have experienced; the sight of hangers making statements about abortion and the T-shirts that you find so appalling are a symbol of the academic environment that you are fortunate enough to enjoy. By no stretch of the imagination does any group expect every person to like what they have to say, but the fact that you were listening (and took the time to voice your opinion) means that they were heard-at some level they disrupted your stereotypical state of mind. What you have not heard, however, if that what you are claiming to experience is not "genderism" at all; your claim is that you are experiencing sexism (any professor, male or female, in the Women's Studies department can help you clear up your gender v. sex confusion). So finally, Mr. Klein, I suggest that before you attempt to critique the rhetoric of your "oppressors," you should understand their own rhetoric.
Teresa M. Pershing
SRU Alumna, 2006
These students, who you seem to have issue with, are experiencing SRU the way many students do: as an opportunity to expand one's understanding of the world around them, to take on beliefs that are fostered by their educational setting and to challenge the norms of society. SRU provides many students with the opportunity to change their lives and stand up for what they believe in; granted many students do not put this much effort into their college experience and those students may leave SRU an unchanged individual, but these students whose views you find extreme will leave SRU much more fulfilled by their "extremism."
It is utterly predictable to read yet another critique of feminism at SRU as "man-hating" and "distorted." Before you are ignorant enough to put your opinion in writing, perhaps you should consider the following issues: feminists at SRU work to raise awareness about issues such as rape and violence toward women through events such as Take Back the Night and the Vagina Monologues. They are actually making a difference. Feminists on campus organize networking opportunities that help many students, not just women, develop into progressive leaders who are culturally aware. Many college campuses are full of activist organizations that point out the "horrid oppression" that minority groups have experienced; the sight of hangers making statements about abortion and the T-shirts that you find so appalling are a symbol of the academic environment that you are fortunate enough to enjoy. By no stretch of the imagination does any group expect every person to like what they have to say, but the fact that you were listening (and took the time to voice your opinion) means that they were heard-at some level they disrupted your stereotypical state of mind. What you have not heard, however, if that what you are claiming to experience is not "genderism" at all; your claim is that you are experiencing sexism (any professor, male or female, in the Women's Studies department can help you clear up your gender v. sex confusion). So finally, Mr. Klein, I suggest that before you attempt to critique the rhetoric of your "oppressors," you should understand their own rhetoric.
Teresa M. Pershing
SRU Alumna, 2006
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