I went to Carleton University in Ottawa, the 2nd coldest capital city in the world (Moscow is 3rd). Served a year as VP of the student council there, after running on a campaign slate named Apathy that used posters including Darth Vader ("tired of choosing the lesser evil?") and George Santayana (included list of broken campaign promises from last 2 years, followed by "people who do not remember history are condemned to repeat it" quote). It was a lot of fun, and it didn't end with the campaign. As one example among many, I'm sure my parents still remember me showing up for High Holidays with a Mohawk. I had promised to get one in public if the students raised $50,000 for Cystic Fibrosis research in the annual Shinerama charity fundraiser. They did. So I did.
Only one problem: where the hell do you find a square yamulkah? But so what. I had a childhood friend with CF, a disease that drowns kids. Making a dent in that is something to be proud of.
I will say, though, that the people involved in student politics were a very different population from the university students at large- and not always in salutary ways. Recently, that was illustrated by a motion to stop supporting cystic fibrosis as Carleton's orientation week charity. Why?
Because it "has been recently revealed to only affect white people, and primarily men."
The student council voted almost unanimously in favour of the decision. One exception: Nick Bergamini, the journalism rep. He said:
"They're not doctors. They're playing politics with this... I think they see this, in their own twisted way, as a win for diversity. I see it as a loss for people with cystic fibrosis."
When the journalist is the voice of sanity in the room, you know you're in wayyy deep trouble. I mean, how out of touch do you have to be to think this is anything even close to acceptable?
Well, you could move in the semi-closed "political weenie" circles that tend to furnish most student council reps.
The President's predictable non-apology "apology" [PDF] illustrates this well - she still doesn't see anything morally wrong with the motion itself. Other reps are scrambling for cover on the grounds that they were misinformed in the motion regarding the disease's reach - again, missing the moral point entirely.
Nick Bergamini was being charitable. When you see something for the 1,000th time, there comes a point where you have to start taking it at face value. The left's standard racism sees white people and males as the root of all evil; this council motion is just a minor extension of that hate-filled mentality toward its logical conclusion. This isn't the first time, or even the hundredth time, I've seen stuff with a similar tenor. It's just more starkly put this time, and hence more memorable.
Happily enough, another voice is coming from the students. They're moving to impeach their student council president, and the Science faculty (!) student rep who put the motion forward and composed it. Based on signature velocity, both will be looking forward to new hobbies soon.
I certainly hope so.
If political weenies wonder why normal people tend to distrust them, perhaps it's because people remember stuff like this from their own experiences. Those of us in the political blogosphere might do well to remember that earned distrust, now and again, as we contemplate our engagement with the world beyond the web.
As for my childhood friend, at least one good thing came out of this moral swamp. Reading the Carleton story caused me to wonder, and the magic of Google and email did the rest. My old friend has beaten the odds - he's still alive. Next time I'm back in Canada, I hope we can get together.