Davidson College - Quips and Cranks Yearbook (Davidson, NC)

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t-. i B H 1 1 • Davidson College Davidson, North Carolina riished by The Student Body Volume 74

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No Man Is An Island The past year at Davidson has been a year of contrast as ever increasingly we are influenced by the reality of a world outside our own which refuses to leave us alone. Consciously, but more often unconsciously, we have shielded ourselves from a confrontation with these contrasts through immersion in academic matters and the granting of only minimum concessions. As a result, the implications of these contrasts are ignored or improperly dealt with and we fail to see potential problems and even benefits. The reluctant acceptance of co-education, the uncertainty left by the dismantling of the football program, increased drug use among stu- dents as well as the increased demand for sexual hon- esty, and the challenge to the honor code are examples of some of the more obvious ways in which the walls surrounding us have broken down and the inadequate ways in which we have reacted. As a result there exists a tension on campus, due not only to our failure to deal with those problems and challenges caused by the contrast between Davidson and the outside world, but more importantly to a serious lack of communica- tion of our opinions and feelings concerning these contrasts and the new perspectives they require us to see. Communication is the bridge to meaningful as sessment and action, not only between ourselves and the world outside, but also among ourselves. This need for communication becomes even more imperative because the students entering Davidson today are more in touch with the world beyond Davidson than students in the past. In order to fulfill its role it is ob- vious that we, Davidson, must adapt to the needs and demands of students who are in many ways different from our alumni. We can do this without sacrificing our basic character and traditions, but neither can we et by without any sacrifices. We must use as our guide the realization that our intellectual and human in- tegrity requires us not only to become aware of the multitude of new perspectives in our own minds, but also to express our understanding of them in commun- ication in order to ultimately determine the course of our actions. If you understand this, then you must realize that Davidson and its students, faculty, ad- ministrators, staff, alumni, and trustees are Davidson, and that the responsibility to communicate with and among each other lies with you. If we can do this, if we can emancipate ourselves from our preconceived no- tions, our false stoicism, our competitive egotism, and our apathy, then a unique revolution will have oc- curred. V:g