About halfway through a campus discussion on cultural appropriation and community standards, students, when given the microphone, began by introducing themselves.
Hi, I’m Annie. Hello, I’m Victor. Hi, I’m Peter.
At first I thought folks were being polite, demonstrating that while we’re a small campus, it’s not safe to assume everyone knows everyone else. However, it was during the third introduction—made by Peter, I believe—that motive became more fully articulated.
I’m glad we’re identifying ourselves by name before offering our opinions, he said. It’s the antithesis of the anonymous statements we’re seeing on Yik Yak.
Yik Yak is a social media app, popular with students, that allows users to post their thoughts anonymously. Much of the discourse consists of sophomoric humor, short queries—Is the Grille delivering right now?—and lighthearted complaints. On occasion, someone voices a genuine plea for help and receives responses just as genuine. Several times I’ve read of people expressing emotional anguish and their peers offering near-immediate assistance, which is comforting. But then there is the nastiness—the personal attacks uttered from beneath a cloak of anonymity against individuals and groups. By intent, these remarks inflict pain and fear on those at whom they are directed. And it has the more global effect of tearing apart the trust and respect that holds a community together.
In our fall issue, Dena Simmons ’05 wrote beautifully about race and our shared humanity. Near the piece’s conclusion, she challenged us to “be compassionate…to be open to other experiences…to learn to accept others and ourselves for everything we are—and everything we are not.” That begins when we hold ourselves to account. That begins when we respectfully and accountably exchange our views.
My name is Matt. Please join me in this conversation.