I just came from the State of the College address in Kelly Hall, where I, in essence, picked a fight with Steven Lawry, the new and current president of Antioch College.

The things this man said absolutely blew my mind. He went on, at length, about identity politics, saying that while it was fine for students to have a strong sense of identity, that militancy and confrontationalism are bad, and that they keep away the kinds of students that he apparently feels should be at Antioch.

I was the second person to get a chance to speak (and I was also the second person to criticize the things he had just said). I told him that I felt that what he had said amounted to a kinder, gentler, more politically correct version of "I don't mind gay people, as long as they don't flaunt it," and that I was horrified to have heard those words come out of the mouth of a president of Antioch College.

What I didn't say, but really wish I had, was that the fundamental thing that he does not appear to understand is that what goes on outside of the classroom here is just as important to the Antioch education as what goes on inside the classroom. Students are not sitting around the Union, reading People magazine and talking about Tom Cruise; they're discussing issues and politics, and, ultimately, learning how to be critical thinkers.

Holy fucking hell.


x-posted to antioch_college