For fear of offending

"The president of the Public Broadcasting Service on Tuesday rejected criticism by conservatives that public TV is guilty of liberal bias, and she offered a strong defense of PBS' Bill Moyers, a target of right-wing wrath," according to an AP report. Moyers was featured speaker at Sarah's Governor Dummer graduation a few years back (above photo) and roused our own right-wing wrath at that time with a totally predictable anti-American screed.

"I don't think they will come up with anything they don't want to hear," said Thomas Driscoll, Governor Dummer alumnus who carries the torch for those grads and parents -- including three generations of alums in our immediate family, Goomp, Ben, Sarah and Heather -- who are dead set against having their prep school alma mater's name changed by administrators who fear "Dummer" may be a turnoff for prospective students. We blogged about the controversy here and here earlier this year. The 900-pound gorilla in the Commons Room is the fact that the administration is trying to pull a fast one, treating alums and parents like children who must be coddled and lied to because they can't handle the truth. Looking back, we were struck with the resonance of what we said then within the ongoing cultural wars on the world stage:

Which brings us back to the cluelessness -- can you say insensitivity? (probably only if it has to do with PC causes) -- of the proposed jettison of Governor Dummer's name.  We are reminded of the recent controversy re the EU's attempt to erase its Christian history from the new constitution for fear of offending other religions . . . How delicate.  How nuanced. The EU is into erasing history for fear of offending politically correct "victims," while the powers that be at Governor Dummer seem only to be worrying about the bottom line. Either way, dumb and Dummer.

It seems that those who don't study history . . . Well, you know where that leads. Try to erase history at your own risk.  Sooner or later, the dishonored dead will come back to haunt you. Or, in Governor Dummer's case, the dishonored alums and parents.

Comments

[be]

I'd been curious about the Governor Dummer Academy controversy. My boyfriend brought it up recently on one of our frequent road trips along the Nawth Shoah. He's particularly sensitive about this sort of name changing because a school he had attended during undergraduate (formerly known as Beaver College) changed its name to (I think) Arcadia University or something like that. From what I could gather, this change happened largely because a majority of the members of the board along with the president had gutter minds.

[Mandy]

I am acutally a first year student at Arcadia University (you were right be). I had no clue when visiting the college or applying that the school was formerly known as Beaver College. I was informed by a few of my older friends and I was also told that it was an all girls school at one time. I don't know if that's true, but if so, I can understand the sudden name change. But I do agree that it is sad for a school that is so proud of their rich history to change their name because of a select few who may be offended.