As a McGill (engineering) grad I hate to see this kind of thing. I have spent time in the Education building on upper Peel, I assume it is still there. I assume this note is real, my comments assume it is real.
This memo is very authoritarian in tone, and really, over the top. And why does it require a formal and bureaucratic approach in dealing with a noisy classroom, it was probably just some person local to the room trying to work and casually putting up a sign requesting quiet. No big deal.
Of course this Dean immediately interpreted this as somehow 'racism' and this Dean focuses on the note being 'anonymous' (and hence, nefarious) when it was probably totally innocent and someone just put up a note and never thought twice about it.
Frankly this response and memo is bullshit, but then again this is the faculty that employed Joe Kincheloe (to their forever shame), so what can you expect?
These clowns have been dining out on Critical Theory now for decades, and the authoritarianism and, frankly, paranoia, is only growing.
Its also terribly patronizing to think some 'indigenous' persons can't handle a request to tone it down. Are they not adults too?
In similar news I’ve seen reports banning Bluetooth speakers on cruise lines and of others complaining of said devices being used while hiking in the Scottish highlands. Common denominator being that we must accommodate the worst excesses of other people under the guise of acceptance. We are ALL fed up with lousy unsocial behaviour from anyone and everyone. If something needs training or bullying to be acceptable it’s not.
The vibe shift might take a while up here with the elbows crowd but fear not, common decency is returning.
Mea culpa. I promise to no longer participate in "moments of silence" which I now realize are exclusionary. If some asks me to participate in a moment of silence I will resist, resist, resist, yell FREE THE SPEECH, and scream like a banshee.
"They contradict the values we uphold as a Faculty and undermine the safe, respectful, and supportive environment we are committed to creating for learners—BUT ONLY FOR those who have historically been marginalized within educational institutions." There, I corrected it for you.
The groveling is disgusting and, frankly, embarrassing (i.e., I'm embarrassed for the dean). What about respect for people who are trying to work, you know, do the jobs they're paid to do. Sheesh.
Yet another example of institutional betrayal by an alleged authority who clearly lacks competence, courage, & integrity. I can’t help but wonder if someone even higher in the administrative food chain will have the courage to intercede on behalf of reason and respect for all community members to find a better solution than this embarrassing edict.
I find it exclusionary that they did not put the memo up in Braille and/or audio as well.... and that the noises during working hours could not be heard by our hearing-impaired community. I demand that the noises be kept below a certain frequency so that ALL community members can enjoy work disruption. Ableism is real folks!
I can no longer hear very high frequencies, so I am liking he idea of putting a frequency limit on the noise, say noises above 19KHz are acceptable. The local dogs might still get upset, however.
Yes, good point. I had not even noticed that on first reading.
Of course, many of our East Indian immigrants (who some claim are "white adjacent" and therefore oppressors) are adopting some of the worst possible traits of this sort of woke ideological nonsense.
Just to play the devil's advocate a little bit, perhaps the person (who, yes, has drank way too much DEI koolaide) was thinking that an anonymous note on a door is a bit passive aggressive, and since it was on the door of the room specifically used by the indigenous guests, maybe it was received as "be quiet indigenous guests! [but not others, is the implied]" Maybe they are saying, hey, if you're concerned about noise, let the people know directly and say "Hey last time you were in the classroom it got a bit loud, do you mind if we close the door so the people in the office can concentrate and you guys can still talk at the volume you want?"
Maybe that's sort of what they meant to say, but they decided to make it a DEI issue when it was just a misunderstanding between humans. A note on the door would make me go "Oh...wait, are they talking about me? who did I piss off?" And it would make me paranoid. Some people are really sensitive. It doesn't mean we need to bend over backwards to protect the sensitive people, but I am just stating an observation that this is what happened.
A lot of things get made into big hairy DEI dramafests, because the people blowing it up are just so steeped in and obsessed with DEI that it colors everything they see, which then causes a backlash that there's NO problem, when in fact maybe there was an actual problem (someone was rude, someone asked a dumb question that was received weirdly, etc) but it had nothing to do with race, culture, or gender. Then everyone clams up and you can't solve anything either way.
Because we all know being noisy and disruptive never makes others feel disrespected and unimportant. We all know it’s very inclusive to make it difficult for others to work and focus. We all know it doesn’t hamper “belonging” to make such a racket that others outside of your space can’t participate in university life. Pffft, the game they play is so easy to turn against them.
Raving lunatics.
Complete ideological capture. No thinking person would write such an insanely buzzword filled diatribe in reaction to a request to keep quiet.
As a McGill (engineering) grad I hate to see this kind of thing. I have spent time in the Education building on upper Peel, I assume it is still there. I assume this note is real, my comments assume it is real.
This memo is very authoritarian in tone, and really, over the top. And why does it require a formal and bureaucratic approach in dealing with a noisy classroom, it was probably just some person local to the room trying to work and casually putting up a sign requesting quiet. No big deal.
Of course this Dean immediately interpreted this as somehow 'racism' and this Dean focuses on the note being 'anonymous' (and hence, nefarious) when it was probably totally innocent and someone just put up a note and never thought twice about it.
Frankly this response and memo is bullshit, but then again this is the faculty that employed Joe Kincheloe (to their forever shame), so what can you expect?
These clowns have been dining out on Critical Theory now for decades, and the authoritarianism and, frankly, paranoia, is only growing.
Its also terribly patronizing to think some 'indigenous' persons can't handle a request to tone it down. Are they not adults too?
In similar news I’ve seen reports banning Bluetooth speakers on cruise lines and of others complaining of said devices being used while hiking in the Scottish highlands. Common denominator being that we must accommodate the worst excesses of other people under the guise of acceptance. We are ALL fed up with lousy unsocial behaviour from anyone and everyone. If something needs training or bullying to be acceptable it’s not.
The vibe shift might take a while up here with the elbows crowd but fear not, common decency is returning.
Mea culpa. I promise to no longer participate in "moments of silence" which I now realize are exclusionary. If some asks me to participate in a moment of silence I will resist, resist, resist, yell FREE THE SPEECH, and scream like a banshee.
"They contradict the values we uphold as a Faculty and undermine the safe, respectful, and supportive environment we are committed to creating for learners—BUT ONLY FOR those who have historically been marginalized within educational institutions." There, I corrected it for you.
The groveling is disgusting and, frankly, embarrassing (i.e., I'm embarrassed for the dean). What about respect for people who are trying to work, you know, do the jobs they're paid to do. Sheesh.
Yet another example of institutional betrayal by an alleged authority who clearly lacks competence, courage, & integrity. I can’t help but wonder if someone even higher in the administrative food chain will have the courage to intercede on behalf of reason and respect for all community members to find a better solution than this embarrassing edict.
Psychotic.
This infantilization of indigenous people is offensive, frankly. And I write as a STEM professional with autochthonous heritage.
Once again, we are observing the weird "white savior" complex of certain segments of the Caucasian community. Ridiculous, and shameful, really.
Why not accept aboriginal peoples as actual fellow homo sapiens? Is that so difficult? Really?
The "white savior" complex is the key. Inappropriate guilt disease. In reality, the Dean's letter is patronizing, belittling, and racist.
Absolutely insane. lmfao.
Education faculties are generally cesspools of wokeness.
I find it exclusionary that they did not put the memo up in Braille and/or audio as well.... and that the noises during working hours could not be heard by our hearing-impaired community. I demand that the noises be kept below a certain frequency so that ALL community members can enjoy work disruption. Ableism is real folks!
I can no longer hear very high frequencies, so I am liking he idea of putting a frequency limit on the noise, say noises above 19KHz are acceptable. The local dogs might still get upset, however.
signed Vivek "dot, not feathers" Venkatesh
Yes, good point. I had not even noticed that on first reading.
Of course, many of our East Indian immigrants (who some claim are "white adjacent" and therefore oppressors) are adopting some of the worst possible traits of this sort of woke ideological nonsense.
Whoever put up these signs should follow with signs on the bathroom doors requesting they be kept closed to prevent unwanted smells.
and noises!
Just to play the devil's advocate a little bit, perhaps the person (who, yes, has drank way too much DEI koolaide) was thinking that an anonymous note on a door is a bit passive aggressive, and since it was on the door of the room specifically used by the indigenous guests, maybe it was received as "be quiet indigenous guests! [but not others, is the implied]" Maybe they are saying, hey, if you're concerned about noise, let the people know directly and say "Hey last time you were in the classroom it got a bit loud, do you mind if we close the door so the people in the office can concentrate and you guys can still talk at the volume you want?"
Maybe that's sort of what they meant to say, but they decided to make it a DEI issue when it was just a misunderstanding between humans. A note on the door would make me go "Oh...wait, are they talking about me? who did I piss off?" And it would make me paranoid. Some people are really sensitive. It doesn't mean we need to bend over backwards to protect the sensitive people, but I am just stating an observation that this is what happened.
A lot of things get made into big hairy DEI dramafests, because the people blowing it up are just so steeped in and obsessed with DEI that it colors everything they see, which then causes a backlash that there's NO problem, when in fact maybe there was an actual problem (someone was rude, someone asked a dumb question that was received weirdly, etc) but it had nothing to do with race, culture, or gender. Then everyone clams up and you can't solve anything either way.
Because we all know being noisy and disruptive never makes others feel disrespected and unimportant. We all know it’s very inclusive to make it difficult for others to work and focus. We all know it doesn’t hamper “belonging” to make such a racket that others outside of your space can’t participate in university life. Pffft, the game they play is so easy to turn against them.