Not Unto Ourselves Alone Are We Born

Do the Right Thing (The Scene Magazine)

2007-07-17T13:39:00.000-07:00

The latest issue of the The Willamette Scene has an article about the motto. The whole thing is good, succinct and worth reading but I found this part stuck out for me:

This belief in responsibility to others, [Classics professor Otwin] Knorr says, “encapsulates Stoic Cosmopolitanism, that we don’t belong just to our own little polis, our own little state, but we are actually citizens of the world. Because we exist in society, to harm another is to harm oneself.”

Smaldone op-ed on 4th anniverary of Iraq war

2007-04-04T15:13:00.000-07:00

The title is President must face consequences for the path to war and it appeared in the SJ on 3/19/07. Good work.

Stories on Teach In

2007-03-12T09:43:00.000-07:00

Willamette students join teach-in [SJ]

Several stories in the Feb. 28 and Mar. 7 issues of The Collegian.

Africa Day

2007-02-25T10:30:00.000-08:00

The articles quote two of WU's new professors, Prof. Millen (Anthro) and Fofana (French). Sounds like a good event.

Collegian article
SJ article

Faculty cancels class for social justice teach-in (Collegian)

2007-02-25T10:29:00.000-08:00

On Tuesday, the College of Liberal Arts faculty approved a resolution from the Council on Diversity and Social Justice to cancel classes after 11:30 a.m. on March 1 to encourage students to attend a teach-in on social justice issues ignited by the 'Most Offensive Halloween Costume Party' video posted on YouTube last semester. The vote, held in the Montag Den, was 46 to 22 with three abstentions.

Where is your voice on Iraq, Willamette? (Collegian)

2007-02-03T06:50:00.000-08:00

Link:

The Editorial Board does not endorse withdrawal from Iraq, as did the Washington protesters last weekend. However, we believe the relative silence of our community regarding the war in recent years is alarmingly conspicuous.

MoJo: Activism and protests spark an inward look at social values at Willamette University (SJ)

2007-01-19T06:08:00.000-08:00

With last semester lots of students are striving for social justice,” said Kiri Dyken, 22, a senior studying theater at Willamette University.

Dyken had just signed the Willamette Pledge, something she felt an important personal declaration in a day where many students are apathetic.
“Those students staged walkouts pushing for more diversity and hoping to make students more socially aware,” Dyken said.
Dyken agrees with students feeling passionate about something, but she said the actions of students last semester could have been better directed.
“The faculty could have helped, instead the students tried to get professors to cancel classes or students to walk out,” Dyken said.
On Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Dyken signed the Willamette Pledge and wrote her own personal pledge colored by things going on around her.

Local students help Africa, minus stars' fanfare (SJ)

2006-12-19T07:54:00.000-08:00

I'm getting a feed that gives me every SJ article that mentions "Willamette University" and, time permitting, will post relevant ones here.

Ben Clanton, of Kalispell Montana, is a freshman at Willamette University. He's new to town but has been instrumental in coordinating campus activities that began this past fall after hearing John Heffernan speak on campus about genocide prevention. As a high school upperclassman, he became aware of the Darfur crisis while studying material for his speech and debate work. A series of personal events led to his move from awareness to action. During his high school years he coordinated a T-shirt sale to raise awareness and donations for the cause. His high school advocacy encouraged a local showing of the documentary "Lost Boys of Sudan."

When he moved to Salem this fall, there was no formal advocacy group for him to join, but after hearing Heffernan's speech, he took the mic requesting anyone interested in follow-up work to move the conversation outside for discussion. That night he met Jacob Swenson, a senior who returned this fall from studies overseas. The two along with a few others formed a core group on campus that has been working to heighten awareness on the crisis, and raise money for action through donations to Mercy Corps. The informal group has some exciting student and youth activities in the works for early next year. If you're interested in joining their work, they can be reached at bclanton@willamette.edu or jswenson@willamette.edu.

Debate continues / AIDS summit

2006-11-30T08:18:00.000-08:00

The current issue of the Collegian has opinion pieces about the recent social justice protests.

Willamette students set Friday summit on AIDS (SJ)

Pelton's Response / SJ Editorial

2006-11-22T19:05:00.000-08:00

The SJ publishes his response to student demands here.

SJ editorial here.

College students push for social justice (Statesman Journal)

2006-11-22T16:32:00.000-08:00

Thanks to Brie passing this on. Readers left many comments using the SJ's comments feature, most criticizing the students.

An impromptu rally with a social-awareness tone sent some Willamette University students on a boycott of classes Thursday.
A group of about 50 students with the designation "Concerned Students for Social Justice" met in the university center's commons, the Cat Cavern, Wednesday night. After the meeting spilled into early Thursday, the boycott was at hand.
Red-clad students gathered outside the Mark O. Hatfield Library throughout the day. Some students went to classes merely to expound on their platform and reveal why they would not attend that day.
"Red is our color to unify our group and show our solidarity," said sophomore Hayley Freedman of Phoenix, Ariz., who attended both the rally and the preceding meeting.
Rally coordinator Drew Herbert said the focal point of the event was to push for a Social Justice Council, which among other things would emphasize and oversee diversity training and education.

Living Wage Action Coalition

2006-05-21T09:54:00.000-07:00

A wealth of useful info about college living wage campaigns. Check it out if you're interested in the possibility of doing one at WU.

Profiles!

2005-12-15T11:19:00.000-08:00

We're up to eight, so that's great (and even rhymes). Students, please spread the word to your friends, especially those about to graduate with no idea what they want to do after May.

UW-Madison to launch "designated suppliers" pilot for licensed apparel

2005-12-15T11:16:00.000-08:00

Go Badgers!

MADISON - The University of Wisconsin-Madison will launch a pilot program requiring companies producing officially licensed apparel products to purchase 25 percent of their goods from factories that allow a union, representative body or the right of free association for workers.

The step would make the university among the first in the nation to embrace and act upon the idea of a 'designated suppliers program,' proposed by the national activist group United Students Against Sweatshops (USAS) to improve the working conditions of apparel workers around the world.

Powell stands strong in Salem appearance

2005-12-05T14:27:00.000-08:00

Statesman story from 12/3/05.

Even those opposed to the Iraq War welcomed the opportunity to engage in a wider debate on the issue, said Bill Smaldone, a history professor at Willamette who picketed Powell's appearance at the conference center fundraising dinner.

"There is a positive side to this," he said after addressing the more than 100 people holding flags and signs in the cold, wet, windy weather in front of the conference center. "There has been a really good debate about the visit, and that's positive. Also, I think bringing Colin Powell to campus has brought the issue of the war to campus in a way not possible otherwise, since there isn't a draft."

Critics of the war received many honks of supports from passing vehicles around the conference center. About two dozen police were on scene, but no problems were reported during the 90-minute demonstration, said Lt. Steve Bellshaw of the Salem Police Department.

Powell and Willamette's Values (Part 3)

2005-12-02T16:57:00.000-08:00

Willamette's motto, from which this site takes its name, is Not unto ourselves alone are we born. I created this site to encourage conversation about what the motto means.

When you think about it, Willamette could have plenty of other mottos instead of this one ("It sure does rain a lot," and "Red brick looks good" both come to mind). Many universities have mottos that strike me as superficial, but not Willamette.

Let's start with a definition:

Motto:
1. A brief statement used to express a principle, goal, or ideal. See Synonyms at saying.
2. A sentence, phrase, or word of appropriate character inscribed on or attached to an object.
3. A maxim adopted as a guide to one's conduct.

The first and third are relevant here. Willamette's motto is both an expression of its principles and values and a statement about how we to act in the world. It says that we have obligations toward other people. There's pretty wide agreement on that, I think. Exactly what those obligations are and how we are to go about realizing them, are points of contention. In an earlier comment Dr. Jamieson ('75) writes:

Colin Powell is incompatible with our motto? I interpret that motto as meaning we should serve others. Colin Powell has served this nation his entire adult life. A career Soldier, Viet Nam Veteran , Joint Chiefs of Staff and Secretary of State, he has given of himself to the service of others. (link)

Clearly there are many perspectives on what it means to serve others and that will always be the case. Still, I find it hard to wrap my mind around how selling this war to the U.S. public (and trying to sell it to the international community) can be considered fulfillment of Powell's obligation to serve others, particularly given how horribly things have turned out. Here's this from former Prime Minister Ayad Allawi (who, you'll recall, "was a strong ally of the US-led coalition forces"):

'People are doing the same as [in] Saddam's time and worse,' Ayad Allawi told The Observer. 'It is an appropriate comparison. People are remembering the days of Saddam. These were the precise reasons that we fought Saddam and now we are seeing the same things.'

In a damning and wide-ranging indictment of Iraq's escalating human rights catastrophe, Allawi accused fellow Shias in the government of being responsible for death squads and secret torture centres. The brutality of elements in the new security forces rivals that of Saddam's secret police, he said.

[...]

'We are hearing about secret police, secret bunkers where people are being interrogated,' he added. 'A lot of Iraqis are being tortured or killed in the course of interrogations. We are even witnessing Sharia courts based on Islamic law that are trying people and executing them.' (link)

If that's what it means to serve my sisters and brother, count me out.

Powell and Willamette's Values (Part 2)

2005-11-30T06:53:00.000-08:00

This post will discuss Willamette's Methodist tradition.

The Methodist missionaries who founded Willamette intended for it to play a vital role in the moral as well as intellectual education of young people. We live in a different time, in a pluralist, multi-faith, society, and the task has evolved from turning students into good Methodists to helping them figure out what it means to do good in the world.

I believe this is a vital part of Willamette's mission. It is not enough to fill students' heads with knowledge. All the knowledge in the world won't answer the more fundamental question of to what purpose that knowledge should be applied. I'm very much opposed to the corporate view of the university, where it is merely a place where consumers (students) go to purchase a product (attending class and getting a diploma).

Let's start with Willamette's current relationship with the United Methodist Church, since many are not aware of it. From the Office of the Chaplain:

...Willamette values liberal learning and welcomes students of "all sorts and conditions." Nevertheless, it maintains its church relationship. Most obvious markers are Cone Chapel, the Office of the Chaplain and the Religious Studies Department. In addition, the Oregon-Idaho Annual Conference of The United Methodist Church appoints several university trustees and holds its annual summer meeting at Willamette three years out of every four. (link)

Next let's see what the United Methodist Social Principles have to say about war in general:

War and Peace

We believe war is incompatible with the teachings and example of Christ. We therefore reject war as an instrument of national foreign policy, to be employed only as a last resort in the prevention of such evils as genocide, brutal suppression of human rights, and unprovoked international aggression. We insist that the first moral duty of all nations is to resolve by peaceful means every dispute that arises between or among them; that human values must outweigh military claims as governments determine their priorities; that the militarization of society must be challenged and stopped; that the manufacture, sale, and deployment of armaments must be reduced and controlled; and that the production, possession, or use of nuclear weapons be condemned. Consequently, we endorse general and complete disarmament under strict and effective international control. (link)

For the United Methodist Church's position on the invasion of Iraq we look to "A Call to Repentance and Peace with Justice," issued this month by UM bishops:

As elected and consecrated bishops of the church, we repent of our complicity in what we believe to be the unjust and immoral invasion and occupation of Iraq. In the face of the United States Administration's rush toward military action based on misleading information, too many of us were silent. We confess our preoccupation with institutional enhancement and limited agendas while American men and women are sent to Iraq to kill and be killed, while thousands of Iraqi people needlessly suffer and die, while poverty increases and preventable diseases go untreated. Although we value the sacrifices of the men and women who serve in the military, we confess our betrayal of the scriptural and prophetic authority to warn the nations that true security lies not in weapons of war, but in enabling the poor, the vulnerable, the marginalized to flourish as beloved daughters and sons of God. We confess our failure to make disciples of Jesus Christ and to be a people who welcome and love all those for whom Christ died. (link)

Thus, Powell's role strikes me as being at odds with this tradition.

Powell and Willamette's Values (Part 1)

2005-11-29T09:47:00.000-08:00

Yesterday a Willamette alumnus sent me an email telling me I shouldn't presume to speak for all Willamette alumni (which I would never do). He also asked me what Willamette's values are. Obviously, it's not up to one person to define the values of an institution, and obviously there is a diversity of opinions among member of the Willamette community on this, and most any, issue. However, it does not follow that since members of the Willamette community will always disagree on value questions that Willamette should remain value-neutral.

Like any institution, Willamette was established for a specific purpose, and I believe we should be mindful of this legacy. Institutions change over time (I'd certainly hope that there's a general consensus that Willamette's original mission of "civilizing" the native populations and saving their "heathen" souls from the fires of eternal damnation is at best deeply flawed...). Still, it is important to be mindful Willamette's history and its reason for existing. In my response to the alumnus I suggested three places we might look do try to discern Willamette's values:

1) Intellectual honesty and the pursuit of truth
2) Willamette's Methodist heritage
3) Willamette's motto

This post will cover the first topic. I'll cover the second and third parts in future posts. It should go without saying that I intend this to be the beginning of a conversation on this important topic and not a definitive statement.

Here at UNC (where I'm in graduate school), every classroom has a sign on the wall reminding students that they are expected to adhere to the university honor code. Students usually sign their papers and exams stating that they're turning in their own work and didn't cheat. Universities generally take this very seriously and plagiarism or cheating can get a student expelled.

At the heart of this, I think, is a belief in intellectual honesty. I have plenty of political disagreements with other graduate students in my program, but I feel that, as scholars, we generally share a commitment to this principle. This includes not making statements you know to be false or without adequate concern for whether they are true. It means giving evidence to support your claims and showing good judgment when selecting your sources. It also means not overlooking, ignoring, or failing to address facts that run contrary to your argument, but rather weighing those facts in your analysis as well.

I'll leave it to you to decide to what degree Powell's record, especially his speech to the UN, meets these standards. I'd argue that if we hold such high standards for intellectual honesty on papers that will only be read by the roommate who proof-read it, the professor who graded it, and maybe a few friends or family members, our standards should be at least as high for presenting evidence to justify a war that has cost tens of thousands of human lives, billions of dollars, and a country's reputation.

Smaldone Op-Ed on Powell

2005-11-27T13:59:00.000-08:00

I've published Professor Smaldone's Nov. 5 Op-Ed on our site (the title links to it).

Powell's Willamette visit sparks debate (StatesmanJournal.com)

2005-11-27T06:53:00.000-08:00

We're in the news! Of course I created the site months before we knew Powell was coming, but other than that I'm pretty happy with the story. I hope this will get more people interested in the site.

'I think we could have found someone better to reflect Willamette University's values,' said Russell Bither-Terry, a 2002 politics graduate and Truman scholar who now attends the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. 'I think, morally and ethically, using him is setting a bad example.'

Bither-Terry and some others on the Salem campus say Powell's involvement in the Bush administration's Iraq-war strategy doesn't mesh with Willamette's Methodist roots and the ethical and spiritual dimensions of education.

Bither-Terry established a Web site, named after Willamette University's motto, www.notuntoourselvesalone areweborn.org, to discuss Powell's visit.

Students Confront Sweatshops (The Nation)

2005-11-14T17:32:00.000-08:00

While some well-publicized gains have been made--including recognition of employee-run unions in some factories, limits on mandatory and unpaid overtime and a decline in sexual harassment of female employees--these codes of conduct have proved difficult to enforce. Major brands make clothing for the college market in thousands of factories around the world, and their college-bound goods are only a small fraction of total production, making it difficult to hold them accountable.

'The codes are just empty promises unless universities back up their commitment with enforceable standards that brands have to live up to,' said Zack Knorr, a student leader at the University of California, Riverside.

Questions for Powell

2005-10-22T14:12:00.000-07:00

A David Corn piece from January 2001 when Powell had just been nominated.

Also see his Colin Powell's Vietnam Fog.

I'm assuming everyone is aware of his involvement in the current disaster in Iraq, and don't need to drag up any articles on that. I'm just making the point that he has a history that should not be forgotten.

Recruitment / Colin Powell

2005-10-22T13:21:00.000-07:00

I just sent the following email to the list, but since we're still in the process of getting people signed up, I thought I'd paste it here, too.

WELCOME

so, this is the new list. anyone on the list can post to it. again, we're now a general WU-community group, open to students, faculty, staff, etc. i think i've change all the language on our site, but if i missed anything please let me know.

RECRUITMENT

please think about people who'd be interested in promoting progressive policies at WU and invite them to check out the site and join this list. they can join by sending an email to:

WU-not-alone-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

again, not that i'm in grad school i have less time to devote to this project. i'm happy to create/maintain a space to facilitate this organizing and activism, but i simply can't be the lead organizer on everything.

COLIN POWELL

i've heard from a couple people that colin powell will be heading up a major fundraising drive at WU. how do we feel about this? it seems like a poor choice to me, given his role in the iraq war which runs contrary to the principles of the academy (intellectual honesty) and willamette's methodist founders (the UM church strongly opposed the war). is this who we want representing WU? how should we respond? i wanted our first letter writing campaign to be a positive one, supporting the sustainability policies, but that's been slow in happening and this is pretty current so we might need to do this first, or maybe we could do letters that are on both topics...?

Joyce Millen

2005-10-19T09:04:00.000-07:00

A recent article about the new professor in the Anthropology Department. Very exciting:

Before joining the Willamette faculty, Millen directed the Institute for Health and Social Justice at Harvard Medical School in Boston, where she helped write blueprints for aid foundations and white papers for Congress. While there, she co-authored two landmark books, Dying for Growth and Global AIDS, which examine how and why poor people are often harmed in the wake of economic globalization.

[...]

Millen will continue to advocate for global health from Willamette. Granted, it’s a long way from Washington, D.C., where she grew up, and a longer way from Africa, but she sees fertile ground here. She hopes to share her passion for social justice with upcoming generations of students.

“To me, it’s all about fairness—who gets health care and life-saving drugs, and who doesn’t,” she says, noting that the people who need greater access are precisely those least likely to attain it. “While life expectancy in wealthy countries continues to climb, it is plummeting elsewhere.

“The countries experiencing the greatest declines in life expectancy are in Africa,” she says, “but Africa is not some outpost disconnected from the rest of us. We live in an interconnected world, and Africa’s survival depends more than ever on our collective ability to care.”

Derogatory comment crossed the line (Collegian)

2005-10-06T11:40:00.000-07:00

We, the Collegian editorial staff, sincerely apologize for having printed an inflammatory comment last week that contradicted everything in which we believe: tolerance, acceptance and the limited opportunity for freedom of speech. John Swanson's use of a derogatory term for homosexuals simply should not have been published, and we are sorry for having hurt and offended so many of our readers as a result of our lack of sufficient vigilance. "

Can't find the original piece (Did they take it down?). It be nice to be able to read it to put the remark in context. I sent them an email about this and have not heard back. According to one of the letters to the editor the slur he used was "limp-wrists."

The following line makes me a little nervous, though: "Kudos to those who have voiced the idea that freedom of speech should not remain unchecked, and here's to a continuing effort to get a handle on the evasive line that divides liberty and indecency so that the Collegian can strive to be the best possible voice of the students.

They clarify when they write:

We are committed to work toward publishing diverse opinions from diverse people and groups on campus. However, students' right to exercise their freedom of speech using our paper [my emphasis] as a vehicle is by no means an unlimited one.

For me the issue isn't free speech being checked, but the freedom to use the paper as a vehicle for that speech, which are distinct freedoms. Also, I'd rather see them error on the side of letting people make bigoted comments than on being too restrictive because I'm solidly in the camp that the best way to respond to falsehood is not by silencing it, but with the truth, though I know many good people disagree with me. It also gets people talking about important issues, in this case gay rights, and refutes the idea that bigotry isn't still a problem.

Other pieces:

Spirit piece tragically mistaken, inaccurate

Letters to the editor