The Helicopter Donor

How serendipitous that the Inquirer published  articles about Penn’s donors’ unhappiness with Penn’s now former President, and the perils of helicopter parenting. Penn and other universities find themselves squeezed on both sides; the parent who seeks to exert control over every aspect of their child/student’s life at college, and now, the helicopter donors and Board members, egged on by the “carpe momentum” politicians, who are  eager to undermine intellectual freedom and replace it with their own agenda and preferred educational curriculum. Liz Magill was low hanging fruit, an easy target for Republican Representative Elise Stefanik’s political theater. The bandwagon is brimming with many voices loudly proclaiming, “Hate has no place here.” (our governor Shapiro among them) with antisemitism the current number one hate to be decried, as hatred against other populations for the moment seemingly  takes a back seat. Penn’s donors forced Magill to be bounced  for her perceived lack of support for Jewish students, helicoptering in and bullying the Board to take steps to appease their personal ire. I am sorry that Liz Magill found herself in this morass. I am sorry she wasn’t better prepared and coached to face the Congressional Committee. I am sorry that in this current charged political situation, there is no one right answer. Students, all students, Jewish, Palestinian, Black, Asian, gay,  trans, female, whoever,  ALL should feel safe on a college campus. They should ALL have the tools to hear what others have to say, as well as  the tools to present their perspectives and hopes to different constituents in ways that are thoughtful and respectful, and in no way, ever, leave a student feeling threatened or harassed or silenced as a result. College campuses should be places where exchanging ideas, no matter how disparate, can be accomplished in ways that allow for disagreement, that allow for exposure to alternate points of view, that allow for learning and growth.  Penn’s helicopter donors would choose monologue, their voice,  over dialogue that includes everyone, and is not confined by the current conservative or major donor bugaboo. Teaching young people how to disagree and to be at least tolerant of different perspectives and experiences should be the goal of all education. If students, both at the high school and college level,  were gifted with this intellectual foundation, this ability and freedom  to see and be seen, to hear and be heard, then maybe the helicopters could be safely grounded, exploitative politicians could back off,  and Magill and her fellow university presidents would never have found themselves in this untenable situation to begin with.   

Wage increases for Legislators, not for Pennsylvanians

Christ - less Christianity