GODDARD COMMUNITY STRIVES FOR FAIRNESS
In response to your recent article concerning the "ruckus" at Goddard College ("Anarchy 101," April 23rd) I write to express my disappointment at the portrayal of Goddard and the extremely inaccurate depiction of the recent events here.
I am spending my first semester at Goddard College, and as I am an on-campus student without a car, I am primarily isolated to the campus. I therefore have limited knowledge of what Vermont outside Goddard thinks of my college, but if the recent editorial is an accurate litmus, I am appalled. I came to Vermont under the impression that this state values individual liberties more than other states in the United States, even so far as to threaten secession. Since when did striving for democracy and justice, even in the context of a small liberal arts college community, become inconsistent with the values of Vermont?
I transferred to Goddard from a rather traditional academic institution where I was daily confronted with the lack of principal and values with which the college conducted business. I came here hoping to find a school that valued academic passion just as much as it values justice and democracy. Goddard has traditions of universal involvement in campus politics, in the work required to run the college, and in the actual learning process. I am sad to say that for what I imagined and expected Goddard to be, the current atmosphere at Goddard is not one that encourages or even tolerates dissent, discussion and democracy.
President Richard Greene has made decision on his own, decisions that one time would be made by the entire Goddard community, and carried out projects that at one time would have been done by Goddard community hands. When these decisions are called into question (by students, faculty and staff alike), the response from the current administration is one that has shamed numerous community members into silence, and caused a shocking number to leave the college.
I suggest that your editorial had very little to say about the actual debate that is occurring. It was melodramatic and inaccurate. Goddard community members are not dumb, we are able to engage in debate and discussion, and, yes, we even think for ourselves and often disagree. It is an insult to suggest that students here are not capable of participating in this debate without being led by wayward faculty members. Likewise, it is an insult to Vermont to suggest that our struggle for humanity and fairness in labor practices is "anarchy." We're simply suggesting that our world need not be tyrannical and unjust, and we're trying to find that here at Goddard.
Laura Peterson
Goddard College student
