RSS
Facebook
Twitter
E-PrinceA group of students, many of whom are Anscombe Society members, has stepped up its efforts to lobby the University to launch a Center for Abstinence and Chastity. The students have organized a series of events with the goal of ...(back to the article)
The opinions expressed here are those of the individual commenters and do not necessarily represent the views of The Daily Princetonian Publishing Company, Inc. We do not take responsibility for the opinions, facts, or claims presented by individual commenters, and reserve the right to moderate or delete inappropriate comments.
The reasoning for this center, as stated in the previous column, goes as "the center would provide educational resources, host lectures and engage the campus community in a variety of other ways to make Princeton a friendlier place for chastity and abstinence."
The Anscombe society seems more than capable of these things already - they were the ones who hosted the lectures this week. What would the center do that is not already done?
I generally find that there is a lot of social pressure to hook-up, so I think this is a very good idea. Tilghman's argument doesn't quite hold because there is nothing for men who wish to remain chaste. About the Anscombe Society, I don't think it's a good idea because many might wish to remain chaste yet disagree with social conservativism. I support chastity yet vehemently disagree with the Anscombe Society, and I know at least one other person like me.
For an initiative that is ostensibly student-driven, this one certainly seems to have some heavy faculty involvement (i.e. Profs. George and Londregan). Just sayin'.
While Anscombe currently does provide educational resources, lectures, and "engage the campus community," it does not provide support for abstinent students to nearly the degree that the Center would. With full-time, professional staff, the Center would be able to make more available literature about abstinence, put on more events, and provide counseling for students. This sort of additional support seems to me especially needed because of the social pressures and expectations that abstinent students face.
“I understand that it is sometimes difficult to stand up for what you believe when you are in the minority, but the fact that you are greeted with opposing points of view when you do so is not sufficient grounds for the University to establish a center,”
This (and her other quotes) are the only good things to ever come out of Shirley's mouth. Bravo, Ms. Tilghman, Bravo.
@rea: Right on. A Center has the potential to get beyond a lot of the ideological trappings of the Anscombe Society and actually provide solid support for chaste students. Plus, I think that the Center would become the hub of chastity on campus, and not Anscombe; and that's probably a good thing. The Center would provide of the chaste values of Anscombe, minus Anscombe's alienating ideological undercurrents. Sounds doubly valuable to me.
If this wonderful "center" were to exist, has anybody budgeted it out?
How much would these "full-time" staff cost?
Where would it be located?
In these difficult economic times, when the University is faced with trimming budgets and the most vulnerable people the University employs are faced with the prospect of cut wages, hours, and potential job loss, don't you think the money would be better spent elsewhere?
A lot of you are Catholic: where is your social justice?
Yet more proof that President Tilghman is amazing. She dismantled their argument and tactfully but unequivocally shot them down in just a few brief sentences. God bless her.
I'm sure that plenty of alumni would be more than willing to donate money to fund the Center. This is Princeton, after all.
I keep seeing/hearing about "pressure". And? What about the pressure to drink until you throw up? What about the pressure to be thin? What about the pressure to be in the top quintile? To get into Ivy if you're wealthy or join Terrace to be cool? To get a job before you graduate? To be green? To be politically correct? To make your parents proud of you? The truth of the matter is students face different kinds of pressure everyday. If they have a problem they can talk to a counselor at the Health Center. We have a women's center because Princeton was originally an all male campus and the university had to show that it was unacceptable to think a fellow student could be harassed or intimidated because they were female. We have the LGBT center because the university had to put its foot down that the harassment of and violence toward LGBT people was unacceptable. And we will have a chastity center because...what? Where is the shaving cream graffiti screaming "PRUDE" at our students? Where are the dissenters faking threatening letters and beating themselves with orangina bottles to make themselves noticed? When was the last time public safety had to be called to drive a male student home after a female student tried to brutalize and rape them? Where are the VICTIMS who are victims because they CHOOSE to be chaste?