EDITORIAL: Self-Locking Doors

Getting rid of them may makeGetting rid of them may makethis a stronger community, butGetting rid of them may makethis a stronger community, butthe ones on the CommissionGetting rid of them may makethis a stronger community, butthe ones on the Commissionmust be dealt with first.Getting rid of them may makethis a stronger community, butthe ones on the Commissionmust be dealt with first._________________________________ Although it may violate the city fire code, she is on the right track. Building a community is not done in panels and forums where people talk past each other. It is accomplished in the physical changing of our environment. Whether it be getting rid of self-locking doors, randomizing housing, or making one uniform copying card, these small measures take down barriers and push students to mix with one another. Unfortunately, Chisum has some self-locking doors on her own committee. Administrative Assistant to the Commission Al Green told the Undergraduate Assembly Sunday that white fraternities and sororities are not as sincere as black ones in service to the surrounding community. "It's not just a question of getting your picture in the paper for helping West Philadelphia kids," he charged. Attitudes like Green's are self-locking doors that fence groups off from one another. In addition, it is sad to think that this attitude is coming from one of the key people on a committee that is supposed to be tearing these walls down. UA Chairperson Seth Hamalian can try to interpret these comments in any positive light he wants. But they speak to a larger truth. Barriers, both physical and mental, are what balkanizes this University. Ignorance on the part of all types of people – white and black – is a huge hurdle which the Commission, and the University's current and future leadership must address. We are disheartened to hear a person with as much standing as Green have such a close-minded view. Poking fingers and doubting a whole population's sincerity without evidence is destructive and childish. Green should be held accountable for his words by the whole Greek community and the whole University. Demand that he backs up his charge with specifics, or demand an apology. And demand that the Commission opens up its own self-locking doors.