In the post, Helwig makes an interesting claim about the state of student life at GW:
GW is divisive. The democrats hate the republicans. The republicans hate the SA. The SA hates the Hatchet. The Hatchet hates us. We hate everyone. This is stupid. If we ever want to foster an actual GW community, this type of thinking needs to stop. Despite what the Hatchet says, you are not the student organization you join.I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that Helwig is wrong. GW isn't that divisive. GW is particularly diverse, and those groups create friction, but that friction is no worse here than it is on most other campuses. I appreciate the particular emphasis that The Colonialist places on campus unity, but GW is not Yugoslavia--we're held together by more than frail buff-and-blue string. and it's important not to misinterpret controversy (over the student fee increase, the "Islamofascism" posters, "Swastikagate," the Presidential election, etc.) as deep-seated, malignant divisions. At the end of the day, most GW students are still part of a community that crosses lines of interest, belief, race, political inclination, and even blog affiliation.
I'll note on the side that not all division is a bad thing: The Patriot has done its fair share to encourage dissent on a number of campus issues--notably the fee increase. That's not a bad thing. Sometimes unity is waaaay overrated.
So, what do you think? Is GW slowly being drawn and quartered? Does the Body Academic have some vicious, flesh-eating disease? Is the name of that disease "YAF"? Is blogging the cure? Has the Hatchet finally jumped the shark?
2 comments:
Bill,
GW students are particularly devoted to the movements they choose to be a part of. As I like to say, most GW kids think they are about five to seven years older than they actually are, and handle their lives accordingly. But while students may be easily grouped and stereotyped by the organizations they so intenesely support, I completely agree that despite the controversies you cite, (politics, student fee, islamofacism, etc.) GW students are still part of a greater community and those gaps are most often bridged.
The point I hope we make when we talk about division, is that people define themselves by their student org credentials. Some of those student orgs (SA, Dems, Repubs, Recess) have a self-importance issue. This leads to bickering with out discussion. This past year alone has lead to a lot of discussion that hasn't occurred before.
Is that because of The Colonialist and the rise of comment driven blogs? No.
Was it part of it? I hope so.
GW has a reputation for being politically divisive. Before this year, I don't think a lot of people would have believed that our two blogs would like each other as much as we do. We have vastly different political stances and spend our time yelling opinions loudly. Yet some how we coexist as best buds.
I think that shows progress.
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