The March 20 Forum: On to the Discussion

What was the best part of the formal discussion?

Clearly, the student comments. (We tried to alternate between faculty and student speakers, and kept to that pretty well.) I was struck in particular by the vivid, often eloquent, and distinctively individual voices of a number of our African-American students. Early in the evening, one black student raised a key question very directly and compellingly : the dilemma facing a member of a small contingent of minority students who is effectively looked to in a class discussion "to speak for the race", and not for him- or herself as an individual. This led to some useful grappling with issues of tokenism, and the need for a critical mass of students from any particular minority group. (Hardly new theoretical ground, but good to recognize and discuss openly.) UW Law School, with its longstanding commitment to diversity, has made pretty good progress in recruiting a critical mass of African-American students, particularly for a state like Wisconsin. It is much harder to accomplish with some other minority groups, particularly for sub-populations within heterogeneous groups like Asian-Americans.

As the discussion went on, it was terrific to witness the fruits of our efforts in practice. Black students took different and sometimes conflicting views on a number of contentious issues, illustrating before our collective eyes the variations in perspective expressed by members of an often stereotyped population. Not that this should necessarily be surprising to experienced teachers, but it was demonstrated so visibly for all of us...Something to feel good about.

A second key lesson from the student comments, this one less heartening: many students, of varying backgrounds and perspectives (at generally liberal UW, this was expressed most poignantly by (white) students, male and female, identifying themselves as "anti-affirmative action" and/or as "Republican" (whatever that is)), felt reticent to express their true views on controversial subjects because of fear of negative repercussions from fellow students (and gave some chilling, in multiple senses, examples). Some present expressed considerable doubt that faculty could do much to change this: Peer culture may be much more influential than anything faculty do or don't do. Others disagreed, and there was some constructive, if largely disembodied, discussion. At least we were talking, and complexifying the oversimplifying assumption of faculty omnipotence and sole responsibility. Not much talk of student responsibilities to the collective learning environment, however.

To be continued....