StuCo, Publications, Classes Discuss “Self-Censorship”

Since the publication of the article entitled “Students View Administration Responses as Intimidation” in the Oct. 30 edition of The Exonian, students and faculty have debated the implications of the article for students expressing opinions at the Academy. Although discussions have occurred in some classes, Student Council (StuCo) and the Publications Committee, the administration has not formally discussed the article, according to several deans.

On Tuesday, Student Council members debated whether StuCo should draft a letter to the administration.

“I thought it would be a great opportunity for us to write a response from students to the school,” senior and StuCo president Benj Cohen said, adding that he hoped the discussion would “stress the importance of the issue” to Exonians and prompt “a comfortable conversation with the administration.”

Other Student Council members recognized the importance of defining an issue before approaching the administration with criticism or request for change. Senior Zach Hamdi said that he wanted to ground “our desire for change” in specific and explicit occurrences and “not on a more vague ‘feeling’ or ‘sense’ that a student is being intimidated.”

Cohen also wanted to lead a discussion that would examine the issue from an angle different than what was presented in the article.

Some members of Student Council disagreed about the issue’s significance, citing it was not important enough to discuss.

Lower and Bancroft Hall representative Hannah Mackay said that the meeting was initially “going nowhere.” She described that the general feeling was “‘Why do we even care about this?” a question posed during the meeting. 

The meeting’s tone changed, however, after upper Antonio Guaneas shared his experience after writing an opinion piece in The Exonian entitled “High School.” In the article, he discussed Discipline Committee cases related to drug offenses, as well as the growing efforts toward legalizing marijuana.

He said that, while the initial feedback was positive and “conducive to discourse,” his adviser soon called him in “to talk.”

On arrival, an unnamed dean was also present. The dean noted some misleading statements in the article, which Guaneas said was a fair response.

What Guaneas did not find reasonable, however, was that the dean “also mentioned that my dorm faculty had noticed ‘strange behavior,’ and given this fact, they thought the article might have been ‘concerning.’ He wanted to check if I was ‘all right.’”

Guaneas said he “felt intimidated” because the implications were that he used drugs on campus.

Although he believed that the dean was well-intentioned, Guaneas said “in my view, a private room is not ever an appropriate location for faculty to discuss these types of grievances with students. It is a frightening elucidation of a power dynamic...and not how to go about these conversations.”

Dean of Faculty Ronald Kim said that while he didn’t want “students to feel intimidated,” these discussions are essential and helpful for both sides.

“If a student says something that might be a little provocative, it may lead to a dialogue that I hope would be helpful from both sides, and I hope that nobody would feel intimidated,” he said.

“If a student says something that might be a little provocative, it may lead to a dialogue that I hope would be helpful from both sides, and I hope that nobody would feel intimidated.”

Despite this, Kim emphasized the fact that it’s important to remain “mindful of the power difference that students may feel, … [since] sometimes it’s easy to forget that.”

In addition to Student Council, the Publications Committee also discussed the article in a meeting two weeks ago.

Bill Jordan, history instructor and chair of the Publications Committee, said the committee made no final decision about their response, but they wanted to assure that there “aren’t any lingering impressions that people were inappropriately punished for their valid opinions.”

Jordan also brought up the topic in his American Politics and Public Policy class.

“My hope is that the Publications Committee will look at some of the things that were said in the article and think about them and ask the question, ‘What’s going on here?’” Jordan said.

Barbara Desmond, an English instructor and former chair of the Publications Committee, explained her position on the issue, elaborating on the student publications guidelines in the E Book.

“The student publications guidelines are a remarkable document that give students broad latitude to express their views as long as they exercise this freedom responsibly and in consultation with editors and advisers. If members of the community question the decision to publish something, it is natural for them to want to talk it out in person with the writer and those who made the decision to publish,” she said.

“I’ve been involved in these conversations myself as an adviser to PEAL, and they’ve always struck me as a sign that the culture here is open and healthy,” Desmond added. “Of course, I react with concern when I read that students are hesitant to voice opinions in the first place for fear of reprisal by faculty or administrators. Do I think that all of the individual cases outlined in the Exonian article reflect a troubling shift in our publications culture? I do not know enough to say yes or no, but I hope that anyone who thinks they can answer this question with any degree of certainty has a very good working knowledge of the publications guidelines.”

Despite the administration’s intentions to adhere to the student publications guidelines during the talks, Jordan said that the first article published was “accurate in addressing people's perceptions.”

“There are some really tricky questions here about the line between intimidation and conversation,” he said. “It could be that the students are a little bit over sensitive or it could be that the administration can find a better way to approach people to make sure that the students don’t feel intimidated.”

Dean of Residential Life AJ Cosgrove said that while he hoped that he didn’t create an “intimidating” or “chilling” atmosphere, “it’s important for students to recognize that adults in an educational community may feel that it's necessary to engage students in conversations when we have concerns or questions.”

Cosgrove continued to emphasize the importance of student misperception. “My take away from the article is that student perception is important. I certainly don’t want people to feel intimidated or to feel like they can't express an opinion,” he said.

Connor Soltas ‘13, author of last week’s “Step Into My Office...” opinions article, said he responded because he wasn’t surprised by the situation described on campus. As a former managing editor of The Exonian, he had already experienced many situations in which students didn’t wish to speak for fear of getting in trouble. Soltas was particularly perturbed that, as far as he saw, the administrators’ response was essentially “Don’t feel intimidated because I'm so friendly.”

“That’s obviously not a perfect characterization of what is being said,” Soltas said. “But at least in the article it seemed like Dolan, Mischke and other administrators defended their decision to call these meetings by saying ‘it’s not our intention to reprimand these kids.’”

Dean of Students Melissa Mischke said that the faculty and deans care for the students and care about how they treat them, and there are times when a conversation is necessary when “something is said that’s inappropriate,” whether it is said by a faculty member, staff member or student.

She stressed that, in certain cases, there must be an administrative response, and “it is somebody’s responsibility to have that conversation.”

Mischke explained that while she wouldn’t intentionally “make someone cry or ruin their life,” she still “ha[s] a job to do” that involves looking after the school, as well as holding people accountable through these conversations.

What is important, Jordan stressed, is “how we can handle this conversation in a way that doesn't create the impression of intimidation.”

“It’s so disheartening to hear the word ‘intimidation’ being used,” Mischke said. With regards to the article, Mischke urged a look to the bigger picture.

She said that compared to many other private schools, who are “tight on what’s allowed in the paper and what’s allowed to be said… there’s a lot of freedom here.” She explained that while students might see an unhealthy power structure in some meetings, the administration is “a group of people who really do care about kids. We don’t walk around wanting to be intimidating.”