BSL holds town meeting

As a part of yesterday's festivities in honor of Martin Luther King, Jr., a town meeting was held to offer diverse perspectives on the president and provost's "Implementing a 21st Century Undergraduate Education." University Provost Stanley Chodorow answered student concerns about the proposal. In her opening remarks, Black Student League President Robyn Kent encouraged students to participate. "This is the beginning of a new day for students," the College senior said. "This is an opportunity for all students to speak up." Five student panelists spoke on their vision for undergraduate education in the twenty-first century. College junior Mika Rao, president of the South Asia Society, said she thinks there should be more female professors at the University. They could serve as mentors to female students, she said. Rao also offered suggestions for revamping the curriculum, stressing the need for greater minority and female representation in "mainstream" classes. "If we as female students and minority students don't see our cultures and our identities reflected in mainstream coursework, it is really disheartening to us," she said. "Maybe you should be forced to take certain classes just to be exposed to different perspectives." United Minorities Council Chairperson and College senior Liz Melendez said that after reading the initiative, she was both frustrated and bitter. "I suppose the bitterness came from the broken promises and empty rhetoric that assured us all of so much and left us with so little," Melendez said. She also expressed unhappiness with what she considers the initiative's assumption that all undergraduates share a common experience. Lesbian Gay Bisexual Alliance Chairperson Anthony Putz, a College of General Studies freshman, said there should be more safety nets for homosexual students -- as well as a more inclusive curriculum. After the panelists spoke, audience members offered opinions and asked questions. College senior Kristofer Love brought up the issue of living-learning programs and their role in the future of undergraduate education. Chodorow responded to students who felt such programs, in particular DuBois College House, might not be retained. "Over time, we will begin to learn what people think a good undergraduate education will look like," he said. After the event, Chodorow said there are many unconfirmed assumptions about the proposal. "People read that general document, and read things into it. They read their fears into it," he said. "Some of them read their hopes into it. Today, I think, we heard more about their fears than their hopes."