So if you’ll remember I have written several posts about the University of Delaware and their thought reform program, and how my school NDSU is adopting a similar program next year. Well as president of my school’s Residence Hall Association, I attended the NACURH ‘08 conference (National Association of College and University Residence Halls Inc.) at Oklahoma State University.
I was shocked by the sheer amount of programs that were entirely about how to use RHA to impose diversity, gender, and racial politics ideas on the students living the in the residence halls. There was an entire round of programs dedicated to it, and it seemed all the other sessions had at least half of their programs fitting into this category as well.
Then came the closing ceremonies. Part of the ceremony was the announcement of the host for next year’s NACURH conference. The winner was the University of Arizona, and they then played a video prepared by the school about the focus of their conference. What I saw infuriated me.
The entire point of their conference is a direct copy of what the University of Delaware tried to do with their Residence Life program, impose their ideas and beliefs attendees of the conference and show them how to do similar thought reform at their universities. The video outlined a conference program of diversity, gender politics, the environment, and sustainability. And then there was the conference title, “It’s about time.” Time to indoctrinate and impose their beliefs upon us, I guess. Time to eliminate freedom of thought and debate, since they know better I guess.
The future of residence life is upon. And it doesn’t look pretty.
October 25, 2008 at 4:58 pm |
Wow. The point of the conference is to open views–not to exclusively promote one way of thinking. I would recommend some classes on diversity for you because such strong language and no real claims with support equal a low level of education. Also, don’t you wonder why this is the first comment you’ve received? Lower the tone, mav, and you’ll get a debate going.
P.S. One-sided blogs never prosper. Don’t waste your money on this site if you can’t understand both sides of a situation.
October 25, 2008 at 11:14 pm |
Wow. I need diversity classes, huh? That’s usually the first step of the PC administrator. If I disagree and voice and opinion that hey maybe this conference is less about different viewpoints and more about adopting the University of Arizona’s viewpoint on diversity and sustainability that obviously means that I am somehow lacking in diversity indoctrination. If that’s how you treat all of the students at your university, that is very sad.
October 27, 2008 at 8:38 pm |
The point of the conference video was to elicit an emotional response. We hoped it would inspire others to begin thinking about ways their respective RHAs can make a difference over the course of the coming year. If you watched the video again (it’s on youtube), it would be clear that the theme of the conference is “Our Place in Time” because it’s our time to go out in the world to make a difference. We were purposely not specific about what that was (although our themes are sustainability and social justice) and thus put the power in the attendees hands.
If you have any further questions about NACURH 09, feel free to contact me at nbdliaison@nacuhr09.com
Thank you,
Alla
NBD Liaison, NACURH 2009
April 2, 2009 at 9:30 pm |
In response to the blog,
I completely respect your thoughts on the subject. You do have every right to your opinion, and you are right in the fact that sometimes this organization gets so caught up in Social Jusitice issues that it can seem imposing.
I think the important thing to remember is the reason for these “beliefs being imposed” is because all over the world (and specifically, this country) we are still killing gay people because of who they are, still neglecting US laws about fair work wages for minorities and women, and yes…I’ll say it, killing the earth.
The whole point of these programs are to EDUCATE students on these subjects and others. Yes – being outright mean and disciminative to someone because of something they can’t control is wrong – Sorry if we think that educating students on diversity, gender and social issues are important.
Plus, does anyone realize that its becoming a Global Market out there? Somewhere down the line, you may encounter a Japanese businessman that could earn your company alot of money. If he hands you a business card and you don’t recieve it in a Japanese-traditional manner, you’ve lost their business (I learned that at a NACURH conference).
I guess what I’m trying to say is that when these people at LEADERSHIP CONFERENCES start saying “kill the white man, God Hates faggot-haters, and majorities suck” then you can start telling them they’re wrong. In the mean time, you can take what you want from these conferences, and as more and more multicultral people are attending colleges and universitiies, its important to understand the differences in people and the importance of learning from others.
April 2, 2009 at 10:34 pm |
I hate the fact that homosexuals are murdered simply for the fact that they are attracted to members of the same sex. I abhor violence and especially murder. If the educational materials were about violence against homosexuals I would be fine with it as long as it was filled with statistics and no forcing of beliefs on what to believe on homosexuality.
But these programs are about how to impose belief systems on others. While I believe that homosexuals are moral people who have all the same rights and abilities as us, there are some people who believe that homosexuality is a moral evil. And a good portion of these people don’t believe in violence againsts the homosexual or even in forcing them to change. But the programs that this conference wants to put in our college system would tell that person who believes that homosexuality is wrong that their beliefs are flawed and that they have to change them otherwise they will face the consequences or punishments of the residence life system.
What if the tables were turned and your public university (bound by all the laws and rules of every other federal government organization and bound by the consitution) held a leadership conference where programs were put on to to educate people about Christianity? How to incorporate programs into RHA and hall government to convert people to Catholocism and denigrate and punish those who didn’t share those beliefs? I bet you would rail against the thought reform then.