For those of us who attended the big debate on Nov. 13 between Professor Robert Devigne and Institute for Global Leadership (IGL) Director Sherman Teichman, I am worried that we walked away without grasping the value of such a discussion.
As a Tufts student, I challenge the notion that active citizenship should not be an integral part of our education. In the debate, active citizenship was equated with volunteering for Habitat for Humanity and short-term volunteerism. That is not the face of active citizenship at Tufts.
To be an active citizen is to exercise your rights as a citizen and responsibilities to society in a balanced way. It is something to take pride in as part of a Tufts education. It may mean organizing a symposium on "Health Disparities and Higher Education," interviewing local residents on the effects of gentrification in Boston's Chinatown, or even studying civil society's role in comparative politics.
Volunteering is just one of many ways to be an active citizen. Let's not get caught up in enticing arguments to bash institutions like Tisch College, but rather use that energy to discuss issues of substance.
Devigne is a fine debater, and he is clearly very passionate about preserving the best liberal arts education students can get. Yet instead of speaking about what those integral parts of an undergraduate experience should be, he chose to detract from the debate by publicly criticizing a student who was trying to bring two diverse groups together to have a productive conversation.
I understand that Devigne's call to the student body to stand up against authority was thrilling. But as a student, I was quite disappointed in my peers' ability to be so easily swayed by the enthusiastic words of one man.
Devigne told us to vote for his side and preserve our rights to a traditional liberal arts education without having to feel guilty or inferior to those who choose to spend their time working in the neighboring communities.
I'm sorry if people feel "inferior," but get over it! The majority of us who attend Tufts University are part of the wealthiest population in the world. We are some of the very few who have the privilege to get such a wonderful education. What right do we have to spend four years learning for learning's sake?
Like it or not, we are part of a global community, and it is great if you choose to involve yourself as a citizen of the world. And if you choose to devote all of your time to reading great literature or playing the cello, then power to you.
But the fact is, you live in a social context. Your entire life is inevitably influenced by the world around you. No one is forcing anyone to be an active citizen. But if you feel guilty about not giving to others and are then angry at others for such guilt, I say, that is your problem. Furthermore, who is to say that a musician can't be an active citizen by sharing his or her talent with others?
Perhaps I am wrong, and the majority of Tufts students truly does believe that these are sacred years for us to spend with our noses stuck in books and that sacrificing our precious time to take part in the world around us diminishes such an education. But I just can't believe that is true. What are words without actions?
I understand Devigne's arguments and that he is not saying it is bad to volunteer, but instead of spending his time bashing Tisch College, he should have talked about the important things that we are losing by putting our efforts towards experiential learning. As Professor Pearl Robinson mentioned, there are huge problems with sending students out into the world without proper understanding of the communities they are trying to serve. Student groups heading out into communities unprepared are irresponsible and unhelpful, and such criticism should be constructively addressed. Yet, Devigne's specific arguments against Tisch College, while sounding great, were mostly unsubstantial.
The huge amount of money that he referred to going towards Tisch instead of other programs was given after many years of Tisch's staff working with their own donors, and is in no way drawing away from academic funds. Tisch doesn't even receive money from students' tuition. Tisch is not a threat to a liberal arts education.
If anything, Tisch is a fantastic resource for those who want to use it to add depth to their education. Its funds bring great academic speakers and activists to campus and provide opportunities to those who choose to take their academic interests and apply them. I don't know how many people even realized that the debate itself was part of senior Oleg Svet's Tisch Scholar project.
Tisch does not just connect students with volunteer opportunities outside the campus; it is a great resource to encourage discussion of the academic ideas that people like Professor Devigne cherish.
Laura Zachary is a junior majoring in international relations.
