by Junior Caleb Young
When students visit Bryan College, they are instructed that the school adheres to the Community Life Handbook which can be amended only through the decision of the President and the Board of Trustees. Recent controversy requires scrutiny concerning the following question: Should college policy always follow this handbook which provides for amendment only through the decision of the above body.
The controversy began with the display of a flag in a Long dormitory window facing the Latimer Student Center. After being removed at the express demand of its Resident Director, it was subsequently placed in a window in Long dormitory overlooking Woodley-Ewing Dorm. For a second time, the flag was censored and no longer hangs in the window due to the insistence of the Resident Director. When pressed for a justification, he replied that all flags were being removed at the direction of the Office of Student Life to circumvent any potential offense to faculty, students, or visitors at Bryan College.
Yet, when contemplating the changes to the statutes in the Bryan College’s Community Life Handbook, this semester has witnessed the reversal of a previous Bryan policy concerning piercings for male and female students. This shift demonstrates an increased respect for the expression of diverse cultural customs on the campus. The Board of Trustees, the Vice-Presidents, and the President received wide acclaim from the students when they elected to reverse almost eighty years of tradition by allowing this form of expression.
While the piercings policy is not being challenged by this author, the previous two incidents reveal a startling contradiction. Simultaneously, the college administration bowed to the requests of students to permit one form of expression while capriciously censoring the display of another form by students who wish to assert their national origin, patriotism, or merely a love of history. This compels any honest observer to inquire whether these decisions are legitimate and consistent.
The question is: does the Office of Student Life possess the sole authority to deny one cultural expression, when the handbook grants an equivalent expression to others? Should students be allowed to wear piercings? Any doubt regarding that issue has been settled by the decision of the President and the Board of Trustees. No one denies this expression. However, should students also receive equal rights of expression regarding historical, national, and political banners? Are these two expressions so different that one must be decided by the President and the Board of Trustees while the other can be arbitrarily decided by the Office of Student Life?
All of Bryan is governed by the Community Life Handbook. It is the document that defines the proper boundaries of both the students and the administration. The Office of Student Life plays an important role in the explanation and enforcement of these standards. Nonetheless, this office is not given the privilege of establishing new statutes; that is a job reserved for the President and the Board of Trustees. Therefore, the issue of public display of banners can and should remain unhindered or be transferred to the proper governing body.