Author:
Brett Fujioka’s recent article “Breaking Bad Habits, Breaking A Sweat” was not the first time I have read an article about community service at Occidental College; nor, I am sure, will it be the last. I would like to issue a similar plea with a more pointed critique.
Brett is kind enough to assume that Occidental students are ready and willing to work with the surrounding community. I spent about an hour today recruiting for Shadowing Day, a program hosted by a student group PAUS: 80 Wilson High School students follow around an Oxy student from 9:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. on March 28th. Most of the Oxy students I talked to claimed they were unable help, with responses ranging from work commitments to a strict masturbation schedule, the vast majority of responses tending toward the latter.
I probably shouldn’t have been surprised. Oxy students are quick to note inequalities, but we are rarely willing to change our behaviors to fit our rhetoric. We just have too much work to worry about addressing disparities in the nation’s school system; we’d be more involved in the community if it weren’t so far away from our Wiis; we’d take an underrepresented high-school student to class if we didn’t have to take a nap in the middle of the day.
Perhaps I was optimistic because Shadowing Day is so fucking easy: Oxy students literally do exactly what they do any other day, but with a high-school student. You can do whatever you want-have lunch, sit in the quad, go to the bookstore, study in the library, sit in a boring CSP class-and your shadow will have a great time. Most have never been on a college campus, nor have they had the opportunity to hang out with an actual college student.
Most people reading this letter will probably agree with the sentiments above. I am certainly not the only Oxy student to hold those positions. As far as this letter goes, I may get a response or two, maybe someone will tell me they liked my letter. I’ll probably get one or two volunteers (paus@oxy.edu, if you are interested), but the vast majority of people will spend about two minutes sympathizing and then go back to their oh-so-busy Oxy existences. To those of you too busy to interrupt your strict napping regimen, I wish you the best of luck.
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