Dear Editor:
Politically conservative author Shelby Steele stirred up a host of opinions with his recent visit to Tufts.
Bringing controversial speakers to campus can have myriad outcomes. Last Thursday night, inspired by insight and good will, a student group - the Pan African Alliance - invited another student group - the Tufts Republicans - to discuss some of the issues that Steele had so heatedly addressed last month.
I tried not to smile for the risk of looking like a goofy, cornball administrator. But I was proud - taken, really - with these two very serious groups of students as they pulled off this very serious endeavor: meaningful discourse about competing ideas. I watched as these two groups showed little signs of the hubris that often surrounds attempts to discuss clashing viewpoints issues.
I watched as each student thoughtfully and respectfully articulated what he or she believed needed to be explained. I listened while people around me also listened - not waiting to speak, but trying to make sense of exactly what it was the other was saying. I listened as people used humor (and we did all laugh together) to ease moments that were indeed hard to get through, as moments can be when issues of race and class come to the table.
No fighting words were necessary here, no baiting of the other side; no one needed to stomp out of the room in anger. Instead, I heard a rich exchange of ideas, substantiated by both personal experience and relevant data. Undergraduates modeling mature, collegial behavior: I must admit, that is certainly one outcome that makes having such controversial speakers on campus worth it.
Karen Garrett GouldAssociate Dean of Undergraduate Education
