10 21 the davidsonian

Page 1

the davidsonian

!"#!$%&'()*'(+), -!./')+0 1223%'4

The Independent Student Newspaper of Davidson College since 1914

Inside NEWS !"#$%#&' (%)#*+,' -.+/0-' /1%)2' 3$-'-2/,2'$#'4%5+*6'! 7/#+8' *$-4)--+-' $--)+-' %(' 2,)23' $#'8$2+,/,6'/,2'" LIVING DAVIDSON !"#$%& !!!! !"#$%&'()*+$$+$),-+$.'-/9+*'16' :/*6';/</'/..+/,/#4+='# PERSPECTIVES >55/'?/68%+'2/80-'@/9$*-%#A-' %18$</2$%#'2%'*$9+-2'$ L%#/23/#'M%N%8O'/'8+/*$#<'+C.+,2'%#'.)18$4'+*)4/2$%#'(%,'-+9+,/8'*+4/*+-O'-.%0+'%#'?3),-*/6'$#'23+':$886';/88+,6P'/0+-+)1.)2%33)4%5678)

Public education expert calls for racial equality in educational opportunities IL'JI@@IHH ',-".('/%#(&$0-(%& On Thursday evening, education veteran Jonathan Kozol came to Davidson College to speak on his life and work in activism on behalf of social justice causes, specifically educational opportunity. Mr. Kozol has been fighting for racial equality in the public school systems for the past 50 years and has received countless honors for his books on his experience as a teacher including the National Book Award for his first non-fiction book “Death at an Early Age.” Along his journey, Mr. Kozol has had many remarkable interactions that have influenced his work, such as becoming a long-time education mentee of Fred Rogers of the preschool television program “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood,” and marching alongside Martin Luther King Jr. in a Boston parade. Unlike when guest lecturers usually visit Davidson, Mr. Kozol’s visit was not spearheaded by a department or organization but rather by a single student, Bridget Wack ‘16. Addressing a di-

verse crowd of local educators, fans, alumni, and students in the Lilly Gallery, Mr. Kozol explained that he normally receives hundreds of letters a week that are left unattended. However, there was something about Wack’s letter that stood out. “She seemed to know so much already about the work that I’ve been doing,” he said. Mr. Kozol did not hesitate to dive right into the issue of the blatant inequalities that continue to plague inner city public schools. “I don’t like to be gloomy, but I’m going to be honest with you. I wish I could say there has been dramatic progress since the days when I wrote those books, but it simply would not be the truth in terms of basic racial justice and elemental fair play for children of the poor.” Mr. Kozol began laying out his life’s journey, explaining the impetus for a lifetime of teaching after receiving a Rhodes Scholarship and graduating summa cum laude from Harvard. It was 1964, and the murders of three members of the Congress of Racial Equality, two white Northerners and one black man, by the Ku Klux Kan had just made national headlines. Although Mr. Ko-

zol had never been political or had any involvement with race issues, he was so affected by the tragedy that he got in his little Volkswagen, drove to a prominent black minister’s house in Roxbury, the black community of Boston, and asked: “May I be of use?” The minister’s response, that he would like Mr. Kozol to share his privileged education with the children, “changed [his] life forever,” Kozol reflected. Mr. Kozol added some humor to the room’s initially solemn tone. In describing his first teaching job for a kindergarten class he recounted, “I was terrified. I had no idea what to do with people that size. To me they were like gerbils.” He shared how he was fired from his first job teaching fourth grade on the charge of curriculum deviation because he introduced a Langston Hughes poem, the first black poetry that his students ever read. When crossing over into sensitive territory,

8##$BCDC>$ *)$@&%#$A

>5$86'B/..%,2'*+2/$8-'3+,'2$5+' /2'@/9$*-%#'/-'()88'%('+C.+,$+#D 2$/8'8+/,#$#<'$ YOWL 'DYLGVRQ UDQNV ÀUVW LQ ORZHVW IXQ LQÁDWLRQ % E7"B?E 1HZ JROI IDFLOLW\ KDV ODUJH LPSOLD 4/2$%#-'(%,'()2),+'%('.,%<,/5'& F$88$/5'G%,,$-'*$-4)--+-'3$-' (%%21/88'4/,++,''

Thank you for reading the Davidsonian!

Sustainability Week to engage campus in environmental responsibility E?>HHIJ>K'F""@ !"#$%&'!()**'+&$("& Sustainability Week will take place during the last week of October and is part of an international initiative known as Campus Sustainability Month. With a focus on food and sustainability, the week features Common Hour lectures from Environmental Studies faculty, behind-thescenes tours of Vail Commons, and initiatives from student groups, among other events. The Sustainability Office has worked to organize the week-long event since August at the recommendation of Dave Martin, interim Chair of the Environmental Studies Department. Sustainability Fellow Joe St. James Lopez ‘15 said, “I listened to a webinar to learn about what other schools were doing during Campus Sustainability Month, and many have done a sustainability week. Ours will cover issues of food and sustainability, including social sustainability, economic sustainability and environmental sustainability. I think people assume food is just an environmental issue, but it’s really an economic

and social issue as well.” Many other colleges and universities throughout the nation have created a sustainability week as part of Campus Sustainability Month, including University of Dayton, Villanova University, and University of Louisville. The Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE) started the Campus Sustainability Month initiative as a result of the success of Campus Sustainability Day, generally held on October 4, that began in 2003. “The goal of [Campus Sustainability Month] is to raise the visibility of campus sustainability and provide campus sustainability advocates with a platform through which to deepen campus engagement around sustainability. It provides an excellent opportunity to recruit new leaders and set goals for the rest of the year,” published the AASHE on their website. The theme of the week, food and sustainability, ties in with the new app, Foodscape, recently

8##$898!:;<:=;>;!?$ *)$@&%#$A

!"#$%&'(#)$*+,-.(#$/&.0$1*22*)-$%'*3-$4'#-"$4'+.,$&)($5#%#,&60#-7$/0+-+)1.),&+--)96((%(:0'"8)


Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.
10 21 the davidsonian by The Davidsonian - Issuu