Students have reported mixed opinions regarding President Margee Ensign’s recent opinion editorial in The Philadelphia Inquirer about international literacy, with some claiming it was “elitist” while others expressed support for the piece.

On Tuesday, Jan. 16, Ensign wrote an opinion editorial for The Philadelphia Inquirer titled “America is disastrously failing to educate internationally literate citizens.” The article expresses that American citizens “have a right to demand better of our schools, our colleges and universities and of ourselves” when it comes to global education. Ensign also expressed that remaining “willfully ignorant” on international affairs has been an issue among American citizens for many decades.

When asked about her motivation for the article, Ensign said that her “reflections on the need for broad global education were prompted by [President Donald Trump’s] remarks [on Haiti and Africa]. However, Ensign stated that the piece was not about the current President. “It was about the distressing state of international education in this country and the need for improvement… something that should concern all of us,” she countered.

Although Dickinson students generally agree on the importance of international literacy, some felt that Ensign’s remarks were “elitist” and portrayed the world in a worse state than it is actually in.

Michael Kozinski ’21 stated that expecting Americans to become as internationally literate as other nationalities are was “a bit elitist because, for most citizens, traveling is a luxury,” and that the isolating geography and vastness of the United States makes exposure to other cultures difficult.

Gaby Fleming ’18 thought Ensign’s editorial made “things seem more dire than they are.” She considered Ensign’s statement that “we seem unconcerned that high school and college students can receive degrees without knowing the difference between World War I and World War II” to be exaggerated, as Fleming teaches history in public schools and has generally found that seventh graders “have a sound grasp on the differences between World War I and II.”

Several others, including international students, however, claimed international illiteracy was visible on Dickinson’s campus already. They expressed support for the President’s words.

Pakistani student Aboody Rumman ’20 agreed with Ensign and stated that the United States needs an education reform. He stated that he drew this conclusion due to knowing people at Dickinson “who lack basic knowledge about culture or geography or a tradition that isn’t American.”

In her piece, Ensign also emphasized that citizens should be encouraged to learn about the world and demand such learning from American educational institutions so that they may “have the knowledge and skills necessary to compete in our globalized world.”

Jon Chu ’21 from South Korea supported Ensign’s claims.

“[America] used to require other countries to know about America …but America [knows] nothing about…the world in reality. Since they don’t know about international stuff, some mean people tended to ignore other people due to their unique accent, intonation, lack of social skills, and lack of their background related to U.S.,” he stated. “It is pretty understandable in some aspect, but I think that is not the way to be a true leader in this modern society, without knowing anything about the others’ businesses and their stances.”

Henry Olree ’21 thought it a good idea “for a country whose government relies heavily on citizen participation to encourage its schools to make international literacy an important learning goal” as long as the information presented is politically diverse and as unbiased as possible so that students may form their own opinions.

Samuel Weisman ’18 maintained that international education was vital in preserving a healthy democracy and understanding global trends. Weisman said that “in the absence of robust global education at home and in school, individuals may reduce those complex issues to overly simple, sometimes xenophobic explanations.”

In response to the role international literacy should play in education, Rumman said people should be cognizant of the world they live in. He suggested that, even without a formal international education, reading about the world and showing interest in learning about it has an immense positive effect on development and can play a major role in whatever someone studies.

When asked if her piece reflected the official viewpoints of the College, Ensign said, “It is common for college and university presidents to take public positions on topics relevant to higher education and policies that affect it. Unless I am specifically writing about Dickinson, I write as a concerned private citizen.”

She added that Dickinson is “a place that prides itself on its pioneering work in global education and its concerted outreach to international students. I wrote this personal opinion piece as a concerned citizen leader who believes in our democracy and wants to work for the common good. In that sense, the piece represents the larger mission of our great college.”