Forum: Students lack concern for others

Princeton students lack concern for others and live in an environment that does not encourage a sense of social responsibility, said a group of concerned students who were joined by deans and administrators at a town-hall discussion in the Mathey College Common Room on Wednesday night.

The discussion was put together by students in various peer advisory groups such as Speak Out and SHARE to address “sensitivity to racial and sexual harassment and assault,” in light of recent events including the violence at BlackBox in April and the charges brought against former student Malik Little ’11, Alice Abrokwa ’08 explained.

Moderator Dante Ricci GS said the discussion was not intended to focus too much on these recent events, though. Rather, it was intended to address concerns on a general level.

“This isn’t the appropriate forum to express anger or hostility. We’re especially not here to dwell on specific issues,” he said.

Many of the roughly 40 attendees, including everyone from RCAs to USG representatives, expressed concerns about students being self-absorbed, focusing on their own ambitions at the expense of those around them.

Erica Wojcik ’09 said that “among different groups, there’s not a lot of even thinking about supporting other people” because students are “running on their own agendas.”

Anna Almore ’08 agreed, saying, “We’ve seen different specific instances where students have decided to remain silent because they don’t feel that kind of obligation [to stand up for others].”

Some attendees said they think students isolate themselves because the University lacks institutions to effectively assist students in speaking out against intolerance.

Almore said that she thinks there is a “rift” between the organizations that exist to empower students, whether the USG or the administration, and actual student concerns. She said that these groups lack a full understanding of issues facing students because the students themselves remain silent.

She said, though, that it shouldn’t be the responsibility of victims of harassment or intolerance to come forward and that the University should have outlets in place for students to work through their problems.

Others elaborated on Almore’s concerns about silence from students facing these problems.

“Part of the hesitation in coming forward is feeling as if ... concerns are falling on deaf ears,” Ganga Bey ’09 noted.

“There aren’t University policies in place to protect you,” she added. “I’m entrusted to this University, and I want to feel like I’m going to be protected from feeling any kind of discomfort or harassment in any way.”

Abrokwa said she feels that while events are often organized to encourage broad interaction across social groups, they are not effective.

“There are a number of projects here that work to integrate student groups, but when students get together ... there’s really little actual integration,” she said.

USG president Josh Weinstein ’09 cited various student government initiatives aimed at improving cross-cultural interaction on campus, including the USG Diversity Council.

“Creating the dialogue is really the first step,” he said, adding that he will work to “bring people from groups that may not be together to the same table to work on events and facilitate discussion.”

Weinstein stressed that the USG is meant to act as the voice of the student body and that students should contact him with any concerns they may have.

Some administrators cited the complexity of issues like sexual assault and harassment as generating confusion about appropriate responses.

“I think some of the issues may involve a lack of knowledge of the policies that there are,” Associate Dean of Undergraduate Students Hilary Herbold said. “These kinds of issues are very complicated, [and] students are understandably confused about what to do when they have those kinds of concerns.”

Herbold said the solution to communication problems is to create a specific process of responding.

“These issues — which are so profound and which are so pervasive — we will really only manage to address them and begin changing the culture if we have a process which is intentional and participatory,” she added.