Boise State needs civility

The foundation of higher education is based on intellectual discourse and critical thinking – analyzing data, challenging assumptions and proving or disproving theories.

An essential part of that intellectual dialogue is ensuring that the discourse be civil.

University students today should be discussing the war in Iraq, gay marriage, immigration, etc. And they should be discussing it through critical conversations, the application of good listening skills and respect for individual perspectives.

This “civil” discourse is not occurring on our campus.

Over the past several months, the leadership and staff of the Division of Student Affairs have witnessed several examples of incivility by our students.

There have been hateful words used toward individual students, student organizations and university departments.
Posters have been found attacking student organizations, student leaders and specific groups of people.

Letters to the editor in The Arbiter and letters to student organization members use language that is disrespectful
and uncivil.

The First Amendment of the US Constitution describes one of our most important freedoms – the freedom of speech.

Per the Boise State Student Code of Conduct, all students at Boise State are protected by this freedom.

Each student has the right to her/his opinion and the right to make it heard. That is not the issue.

As university leaders we want different perspectives discussed and shared. We want students to hear the facts, the theories and the multiplicity of perspectives. But we need to do this in a civil manner, with respect for each other and the foundation of
higher education.

We expect and welcome dissent and disagreement; we also expect courtesy and respect.Students need to learn to challenge opinions, not individuals or groups of people.

There is a difference between disagreeing about closing or opening the border between Mexico and the United States and attacking the Mexican people with hateful words.

Individuals’ ethnicities are not something they choose; it is who they are. There is a difference between disagreeing with the United States approach to Iraq and attacking the work of our citizen soldiers. Didn’t we learn that lesson during Vietnam?

And there is a difference between how different organized religions interpret the Bible and attacking the people who hold these beliefs. Our values and passions sometimes get in the way, and we forget that those we disagree with are also people with values and passions, often as intense as our own.

We forget the Golden Rule – do unto others as you would want done unto you. Different variations of this rule can be found in the Bible, the Quran, the Book of Mormon, the Farmers Almanac and Buddhist teachings, to name a few. Shouldn’t that be the standard of our behavior?

I am saddened, frustrated and disappointed by the incivility on our campus.

Our community is strengthened by the diversity of perspectives and the diversity of our students, faculty and staff.

Why do we have to attack that diversity? Why do we have to play the game of one-up? Why do we have to attack others in order to make the point that our perspective is the right or better one? Why do we have to be so mean-spirited?

I am not asking everyone to join hands and sing “Kumbaya.” I am asking for students to apply critical thinking skills, good listening skills and always apply the Golden Rule.

Boise State will be a better place for it.

Leah A. Barrett is the executive director of the Student Union and Student Involvement.

LEAH A. BARRETT
Guest Opinion

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