In the Dec. 3 issue of The Dickinsonian, alumnus Matthew Melchiorre ’11 penned an opinion piece lamenting what he sees as an environment where “the college is concerned with making sure that no one gets their feelings hurt.” He points out that in the “real world,” microagressions and “obnoxious and insensitive” things that “jerks” say are prevalent and cannot be mitigated by a college administration hell-bent on coddling their students. Melchiorre’s opinion is not unique. In this recent war of words (and at times actions) between the “coddled” student and those who think that social justice movements on campus have gone too far, Melchiorre’s words echo those of many. The problem is, Melchiorre hand-picks (or perhaps is only privy to) a few events and conversations on campus. Moreover, he is misinformed about these events and conversations, and limits his discussion to his preconceived ideas of what has occurred at Dickinson.

At one point Melchiorre tells us that students “invent discrimination where there isn’t any” by deeming statements that were never intended to cause harm as microaggressions. From this “invented discrimination” come “the posters and the screaming, and the loud interruptions of Thanksgiving dinner by megaphone. So comes the regression of young adult back into young child, throwing a fit for everyone to see because someone was mean or wrongly perceived to be mean.” Aside from the fact that Melchiorre has boiled  down a months-long coordinated movement into a few harsh words, he is also far too removed from the campus culture in which this movement has grown, and so assumes that the movement is ill-informed and reactionary.

I believe I can help Melchiorre better understand why his comments are ill-advised. Following the debacle over an “around the world” theme party held in campus-owned apartments in September, students from the Social Justice house held an impromptu meeting. They gathered the students involved in the party and those who were hurt into one room to discuss why some perceived actions of certain students at the party to be racist. While I admit the meeting was at times one-sided and hard to follow, some of the most poignant voices were those of the students who told us that they actually felt unsafe at Dickinson due to the types of microaggressions and overt discrimination they faced on campus. These weren’t students whose feelings were hurt, as Melchiorre would have us believe. These were students, some whose social status at this school and in this country is subjugated for various reasons, who are worried about the implications that racism, and other forms of marginalization, can have for them and their loved ones.

Melchiorre has tried to paint the movement on campus as The World v.s. Whining Students and their ally The Coddling Administration. This is not the case. In truth, I do believe that some of the aims and claims of the social justice movement on this campus and on other campuses are short-sighted and ill-advised, but I believe the movements as a whole are important and necessary. I have talked with a number of the students closely involved with the movement. They are not asking for the “jerks” to stop saying mean things; they are asking for the administration to uphold values of inclusivity, equality and justice.

In the last third of his piece, Melchiorre tells us “When I was a freshman, Dickinson proudly asserted that its students were “comfortable with being uncomfortable,” understanding the value of clashing opinions in building intellectual minds. Now, it appears, the college is concerned with making sure that no one gets their feelings hurt.” The point of the whole movement on campus is to make people uncomfortable. Standing on tables at Thanksgiving and giving a speech is discomforting for those around. Organizing discussions about racism on campus and in broader contexts is discomforting. Talking amongst your friends about these issues on campus is discomforting. Social movements are inherently discomforting.

Melchiorre, removed from the context of these movements, has fundamentally misunderstood the issue. Admittedly, movements such as these can often lose sight of what is important and become hyper-specific and hyper-sensitive, but that does not mean that their overall messages and goals are short-sighted or unrealistic. These are not coddled students looking for a blanket and a warm lap in which to curl up and sleep. These are students who have seen and experienced marginalization, and will not stand for it anymore. Sure, the “real world” is hard, but no one on Dickinson’s campus is assuming that it won’t be hard. In the meantime, why not make life on campus a more inclusive experience?

As a final point, for I am a naturally confrontational person, I have to say that the overall rhetoric of Melchiorre’s piece was elementary and degrading. Instead of engaging the Dickinson community in an intellectual and level manner, he chose to use language that completely misrepresented the happenings on campus and equate them to the actions of toddlers (an approach lacking any and all creativity). You are not so far removed from college as you might think, Mr. Melchiorre.