Convocation 2005

It was a rather ineffectual display in the end, but those of us who walked around Penn Hall or through the ground floor rather than processing up the steps did the right thing. Many of us are annoyed and offended by the tone in Bob Winan’s emails, but on the substance of the thing he’s absolutely right. Criticisms of the College’s treatment of people with disabilities has to be on the administration’s radar screen. Adding this new tradition (excuse the oxymoron) of marching up and down the steps at Penn Hall is either a remarkable display of ignorance or a deliberate provocation. I’ll assume ignorance, and while we’re at it I’ll assume the decision to have the band strike up a rousing rendition of Dixie during the recessional was not a gratuitous slap at the dissenters but simply another jaw-dropping display of insensitivity. Fortunately, there didn’t seem to be many people of color among the new students and families to be offended at Dixie, or any disabled students to feel excluded by the march up the steps. Say, you don’t think that one reason people of color don’t attend Gettysburg College in large numbers is because we’re the type of institution where people feel that Dixie is an appropriate song for our band to play at official occasions? Or that one reason we don’t get a lot of students with disabilities is that we continually come up with new and creative ways to make them feel excluded?

Update: Anonymous asks if GC is behind our peers in enrollment of people with disabilities. Good question, anyone know the answer? I watched all 700+ first year students recess at convocation and didn't see anyone in a wheel chair or being assisted in any way.

Also, Marilynn Phillips' latest open letter to President Will informs me (I hadn't realized this, but apparently everyone else did) that originally faculy were scheduled to recess first, followed by students, but this was changed at the last minute. So, the chronology is:

1. New procedures for recessional are announced, with the order platform party, faculty, students.
2. Open letter from Robert Winans protesting new procedures.
3. Provost's office is informed that many faculty plan not to recess up the steps; request made to have everyone walk around Penn Hall instead.
4. Order of recessional is changed to platform party, students, faculty.