emphasize the singular here) of the past.
These changes have already happened,
and they will continue in spite of the fact
that some alumni seem incapable of
accepting this.
■ I spent six wonderful years at UNC for
my master’s and doctorate, but I am originally from New Zealand and have
returned here again to teach. Not only is
it common for men and women to “flat”
together (be roommates) in New Zealand,
the country has had a policy of accepting
same-sex couples who are immigrating for
some years now. At both social and political levels, gender-neutrality is alive and
well, and everything seems to be going
fine. While at UNC (and from visiting,
attending and working at campuses across
the country for almost 10 years), I found
it strange and somewhat disconcerting the
extent to which college students are
thought of as “children” and treated as
such, as though they are not capable of
informed decisions or accepting change
How to reach us
Offices: (919) 962-1208
Fax: (919) 962-0010
E-mail:
CAR@unc.edu
Web:
alumni.unc.edu
Mail: P.O. Box 660
Chapel Hill, N.C. 27514
Updates with news about the University and
the GAA can be found on the GAA’s website
at
alumni.unc.edu and at
uncmobile.com.
on their own terms. It seems the panic
here is coming from the alumni generations, not the students themselves, which
speaks volumes.
Such name-calling and conflation of
issues serve no purpose (all this concern
about “abortions” and “unwanted pregnancies” seems quite beside the point
when no one is being forced to participate in gender-neutral housing, and the
vast majority of those who do will likely
be doing so for reasons of safety and to
spend time with like-minded people who
are facing similar challenges). “Moral
well-being” does not start and end with
concerns about bad sexual choices.
Instead, it would be helpful if we could
all think more broadly about what is at
stake here. The vast majority of these students are legal adults, and they will learn
to make their own moral choices as they
move through UNC and out into the
world. This is what becoming an adult
means; this is what a college-level education is for. Just as their parents and grandparents struggled with civil rights, these
students will struggle with gender equality, and I very much hope they will make
wise, kind choices — as their UNC education should be teaching them to do.
Who would now dare call those who lobbied for racial equality “ungodly”? Paraphrasing Bob Dylan, if my fellow alumni
cannot accept that their “old road is rapidly agin’,” at least “get out of the new
one, if you can’t lend your hand.”
Because, whether you like it or not, the
times are constantly changing.
Davinia Thornley ’00 (MA, ’04 PhD)
Dunedin, New Zealand
Yearbooks hold a lot of memories.
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