I thought that the article “Seniors divided over grad speaker choice” in the Wednesday, March 21 paper reflected poorly on The Daily Pennsylvanian, on the students quoted and on Penn as a whole. The article presented the perspectives of students who believed that Geoffrey Canada was a poor choice of graduation speaker, merely because they had not heard of him.
Such viewpoints — in which a person judges another person’s merit without knowing them — are in my opinion, best ignored rather than highlighted in print
It seems disrespectful to Canada to publish an article like this, especially as the main headline. But it also seems disrespectful to the students quoted. Later in life, potential employers could Google these names and discover these negative remarks — they would be likely to interpret them as reflecting arrogance and entitlement, two qualities that no employer looks for.
We are all human and make mistakes. Most of us make numerous stupid, arrogant statements during our lives. What is gained by turning these statements into a cover story, especially a cover story that purports to present a public voice of Penn?
Alex Zorach lives in Philadelphia, PA. His email address is cazort@gmail.com.
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