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Guilford in the 21st Century—Wake, Davidson Wanna-be?
Lisa Pope
Editorials Editor
The time has come to say goodbye...
Yes, it's finally here. The close of the
semester, finals, graduation, summer, the
rest of your life (if you're a senior), THE
END. And we're all tempted to hang it up,
pack it in, concentrate on getting out of
here, say goodbye and not give Guilford
more than a passing thought for at least
three months (or, as I said before, the rest
of your life). So long. Ciao. See you later,
Alligator.
But before we close the door (with a
bang), let's spare a brain cell or two and
think about (oh yes) Guilford. More spe
cifically, Guilford and its future. Now
humans (particularly students) always have
a way of lamenting change and measuring
everything new and different by their own
personal yardstick of experience. The
refrain runs something like this: "the
school/campus/students are different AND
I DON'T LIKE IT! They're cutting down
trees and opening 21st century telecom
munication centers and THE TIMES
THEY ARE A CHANGIN'!" It's got a
comical ring to it and some might be
tempted to dismiss such refrain as merely
Respect Rights of
Alternative Organization
To the Editor:
As this year draws to a close, I would like to add a few final
thoughts on this year's much discussed topic: the formation
of Sigma Chi Alpha, an independent Greensboro fraternity.
Many members of this community have expressed their
disagreement with the goals of a Greek organization, and have
also expressed their desire that Guilford continue to be a
school without a Greek system. I doubt seriously that Guilford
will ever be a campus with a Greek system, and this is as it
should be. Guilford stands firm on a rich heritage of Quaker
ism, and the school should continue to build on the Quaker
tradition and espouse its principles.
Guilford also stands on a tradition of diversity. And the
most fundamental principle of diversity is respect for other
viewpoints. This involves not only respecting ideas similar to
one's own views, but respecting views that may be com
pletely opposed to one's own. Indeed, we would not be a
community of diversity if we only allowed the official views
of this institution to flourish, while all other viewpoints are
stamped out and obliterated. I understand and respectGuilford
College's position on Greek organizations. And I have never
entertained the goal of seeking to change or even challenge
this view.
Although I am a student at Guilford, I do not automatically
adopt all of the philosophies of this institution. I believe that
a fraternal organization has many positive attributes to offer.
I, as an individual, felt the need to be part of such an
organization. I felt that this experience would enable me to
build lasting friendships based on common interests, and also
allow me to contribute to the greater Greensboro community
in various ways.
I do not seek, now or ever, to make the organization I am
a part of an established part of the Guilford campus. I have
Maybe I buy idealism easily but Guilford didn't seem to
be a place where there was split between message
and reality. Unfortunately, that seems to be more and
more the case nowadays.
the demented ravings of yet another gen
eration. To dismiss it, though, is to ignore
the note of sober truth hiding behind the
hyperbole and comedy. The times they are
a changin' and what are they changing to?
Telecommunication jokes aside, what is a
21st century Guilford going to look like
and, more importantly, what is it going to
feel like?
I came to Guilford because I wanted a
school where professors went by first names
and classes could be held on the lawn and
IDS was more important than engineering
and not many people really cared about
football or homecoming or "school spirit"
and lots of people did care about the
Guilford College tree. I didn't come be
cause of a library or apartments or com
puter labs or brand-new buildings and I
still wouldn't
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
become part of this group not as a student of Guilford, but as an
individual citizen of the United States who has the freedom to
associate with any group I so choose. I have the right to belong
to a Greek organization, just as any other Guilford student has
the right to belong to the NAACP, the American Civil Liberties
Union, the Communist Party or any other organization.
No one in this community should feel threatened by the
existence of an independent, local fraternity of which some
Guilford students may choose to belong. Persons who do not
support a Greek organization have the right to exercise their
dissent by not becoming a part of such an organization, not
supporting the organization financially, and not attending events
that are related to the organization.
I have the utmost respect for this college's beliefs against
Greek organizations. I only ask that, in the true spirit of
diversity, members of this community respect my right to have
a different opinion and to act accordingly.
Christopher J. Tigani
Condoms Worth the
Expense to Spare Lives
To the Editor:
I just finished watching the evening news on ABC with Peter
Jennings, where the American Agenda was about condom
distribution in the high schools. Yes, high schools. And for free,
in New York City and Philadelphia. No, they don't give
education to everyone who wants one; no, they don't require
parents to give permission (where permission is required, distri
bution is slight); yes, pregnancy and sexually transmitted dis
ease rates are down where condoms are readily available.
And then I thought about the great condom debate in the
Guilford Senate. And I despaired. What a great cost—oh yes,
1-2 percent of the current Student Activities budget or roughly
2-3 percent of the current cost of IDS 101 to provide 30,000 free
condoms to students through the Student Health Service. This
is the rough equivalent, based on relative student population, of
the number of condoms Wake Forest University distributes to
Maybe I buy idealism easily butGuilford
didn't seem to be a place where there was
split between message and reality. Unfor
tunately, that seems to be more and more
the case nowadays. We look at promo
tional brochures promising community,
integrity, and virtue and we laugh. Call me
crazy but I find that disturbing. We shrug
off publicity and look at reality instead—
look at Jim Keith leaving and apartments
being built at the expense of long promised
dorm renovations and divisive debates over
"respect for persons" and "political cor
rectness." The kind of reality that slick
brochures don't show. The kind of reality
that bright and shining new buildings
obscure.
When I visited Guilford as a high school
senior, I was impressed not by brochures
or buildings or computer facilities but by
THE GUILFORD lAN April 22. 1991
students who didn't seem to be cut from
the Davidson/Wake Forest mold, an ad
ministration that seemed to be in touch
with its students and an overall spirit of
tolerance. I would hope that a 21st century
(or even 1991) visitor might leave with the
same impressions, but the signs of the
times haven't been too encouraging. You
might say that Guilford's having an iden
tity crisis—and I'm just wondering what it
is going to emerge. As another year winds
down, maybe it's something that we all
should be wondering.
Correction
In last week's feature article about
Guilford's study abroad program
misidentified Camille Hayes' class
year. She is a senior.
• • •
Also, at the Spring Awards Convo
cation on Wednesday, the program
failed to mention The Guilfordian
under its list of student organizations.
We assume the College Relations Of
fice regrets the error.
their students and high school students who wander in. We
might not be able to afford one band sometime during the year
at that rate.
And I thought about the current rate of infection of AIDS
among college students—2 to 3 per thousand (who know it),
and more who don't. Kenyon College in Ohio, with roughly
the same size student body as Guilford, has provided con
doms free through a basket in Student Health, plus condom
machines in the residence halls, for years. Yet Guilford is
relying on students to be prepared with two quarters, or to take
a trip to the drug store right after payday, when there are
probably two or three students on campus who know they're
infected, and 18 to 28 who are infected but don't know.
Oh yes, you had sex with more than one person, but in the
heat of the moment... In two months or two years or 10 years
you might develop a fever that won't go away, you might get
a rash in your mouth, but gosh, wasn't it worth it. Well, is it
worth it? Is the debate over $145 for 2000 condoms so great
that we are willing to read obits of our friends at our 10- or 20-
year reunions? I hope not. I hope someone, whether in the
Senate or the Administration or the Board of Trustees, places
lives over budgets. Anything less is abhorrent.
Lucy Allen Powell
Triad Health Project Speaker's Bureau
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