Come On Now, Let's Be Civilized!

Advice Column for the November issue of The Champlain Current

I mumbled comments to myself that I wished I had just said aloud this morning in my Human Rights & Responsibilities course. Of course, these comments weren’t concerning the origins of Islam or the Cairo Declaration of Independence. No, my comments were concerning my fellow students and I. To be exact, it was concerning my fellow students and I being criticized for being young, being of a new generation.
I am going to guess that I am not the only twenty-year-old young adult at Champlain College who grew up without going to church every Sunday. I don’t know the Bible like the back of my hand. And, it’s this characteristic, being uninformed about Christianity, that qualifies me to be called a “heathen”. That’s right! We were referred to as “heathens” by a professor.
As a third year COR student, I attend the Human Rights & Responsibilities class. Our professor was referring to the Bible and asked the class if someone could tell the class one of the biblical stories. The room fell silent. He asked us, “Come on guys, didn’t any of you attend Sunday school?” The room stayed silent.
From the far corner of the room, an observing professor made his statement.
He said, “They are a bunch of heathens!”
Whether he thought he was being funny, or trying to be an ass, his comment was simply inappropriate, offensive, and obviously uncalled for.
Let me lay down the word “heathen” for you with the help of the Merriam-Webster dictionary. The noun has two parts to its definition. The first part states that a heathen is “an unconverted member of a people or nation that does not acknowledge the God of the Bible.” Okay, I agree. I do not acknowledge the big guy in the sky. However, the second part of the definition is where the burn in my chest, my muttered comments, and my feelings of being disrespected come from. The second part of the definition regards a “heathen” as “uncivilized”.
Really?...Really!?
Because I don’t I clothe myself before entering the streets of Burlington. I don’t shower on a regular basis to keep myself feeling (and smelling) clean. I didn’t graduate from high school and make my way into Champlain College.
NOT.
I do the things that a civilized human being does. And, I can guarantee if you didn’t spend your Sundays at church and in Sunday school, you do these CIVILIZED things as well.
I grew up without religious beliefs. However, I do consider myself spiritual. I faced tragedy at the early age of eight and created my own opinions how to live my life and where I would “go” when my life ended. It is topics like one’s religiousness that should be left out of one’s professor’s mouth.
To my main point, when you feel you are being disrespected, you need to stand up for yourself. Whether it be that your professor calls you a “heathen” because you are of the second millennium or if your professor tells you that you aren’t capable of writing a paper when you clearly are—stand up for yourself! Chances are, you aren’t the only one who feels the burning sensation deep down inside your stomach that makes you want to yell, to curse the college you spend so much money on your education at. And if you’re scared to say something to your professor seeing how he or she has clearly already denounced you, then hell, go to their superior.
But don’t just run, jump, and skip to their office. I mean, come on, now, let’s be civilized. Make a plan for yourself, an outline of outrage! Make a list of the things you want to say. Make sure to include the course you are in, the professor (of course), the issue at hand, and why it upsets you the most. Also, don’t show up looking like a bed creature. Make sure you jump out of your jammies and into your professional pants. You can’t point a finger without your whole arm behind it. Make sure you give your reasons for you pure and utter distaste in the way this human being has treated you.
I had an issue with a professor my sophomore year. In between telling the details of an assignment and giving us a due date she said, “You guys don’t know how to write papers.” Even if I wasn’t Professional Writing major, I would have been offended. I felt degraded and had no desire to write her the paper. If she thought we couldn’t write papers, why would I write her one? Finally, after I had cooled down, I went to her office and told her how I was offended and felt discouraged when doing the assignment. She apologized, and admitted she had used the wrong words. It can be effective to politely approach your professor and say something like, “You said something in class that I wanted to talk more about,” or, “I didn’t get the grade I was expecting, could we discuss how I could improve my work?”
However, there are many ways to communicate whatever issue is at hand. If you don’t feel comfortable talking to someone in person, you can send an e-mail or type up a letter and put it in their on campus mailbox.
So, I’m going to give you a little inspiration. And, believe me, I am not encouraging you to complain about getting a C on a paper when you think you should have gotten a B and in reality you wrote it ten minutes before class and deserve a D. I’m talking real disappointment in the relationship between student and professor. I am going to provide you with some contacts that may be useful if the problem is beyond a conversation with a demeaning professor. Listed below are the Deans of divisions on campus who can be found in the “Contacts” area on your MyMail account:
o Communications & Creative Media: Jeff Rutenbeck
o Business: Renee Florsheim
o Education & Human Studies: Sue Rowley
o Information Technology & Sciences: Ali Rafieymehr
o COR: Betsy Beaulieu
Well, good luck, young-fresh-minded-new-age-knowing-future-experiencer. And lastly, get on YouTube and get yourself fired up with some Michael Franti. You can find some inspiration in his song “Hey World”. So, in the words of Franti, “Don't ever doubt the power of just one mind.”