LETTER: College no place for intolerance

Editor,

Webster’s Dictionary defines liberal as “one who is open-minded.” Why are some so set on putting labels on people and ideas? Do I have conservative values? You bet. Do I share liberal ideals? Right again. Does that make me a moderate? Is it necessary to pigeonhole people into niches that rigidly define what they can and cannot do or think?

It’s a university’s sacred obligation to teach its students. If those teachings tend to contradict our views, all the better; Plato’s unexamined life and all. It also fascinates me that people can be so critical of views that they have never taken the time to study. When I first entered my college career, I was a staunch conservative, I will admit it. I felt our capitalist free-market economy truly was the best way; I even held the archaic, although still widely held view, of individual determination as the genesis of financial success.

However, I was lucky enough to be exposed to literature that helped me to see the truth. More importantly, I was able to examine such literature with an open mind. Let’s consider a hypothetical situation (although it’s far too often reality versus an exercise in abstractia). 

Gene is a child born into a low-income family. The public school he attends is funded by property taxes which are inadequate to provide current textbooks, much less things like computers, science labs and quality teachers. His education is sub par. Additionally, his single mother cannot afford much beyond food so he is forced to work full time and drop out of high school to support his baby brother.

We all know that quality education is key when determining how far we go on the career ladder. Gene did not graduate high school, and the education he did get was below national minimum standards. Do you think he will be accepted to an Ivy League school, a state university, how about a community college? This cycle of poverty is a vicious reality for millions of Americans, regardless of their “self reliance” or “work ethic.” Colleges are meant to be tools of teaching. Let’s not turn them into tools of hate and intolerance.

Nathaniel Boehme