What’s behind all the hoopla over graduation tassels? Why should it matter to anyone?
The answer may lie on a professor’s whiteboard: “Sauron is in the land. One tassel to rule them all.”
Students and faculty are grumbling because changes are made without informing or consulting faculty and students. And it’s not just about tassels.
As Heraclitus said, you never step into the same river twice. But, are changes at BC inevitable or the result of cultural forgetfulness?
One professor remembers when things were handled differently.
“We would meet and discuss the issue until we reached a consensus or at least understood the issue more fully,” he said. “BC community operated on consensus.” But, that’s not been the case of late.
Last summer, for example, some faculty and alumni were dismayed by the sudden disappearance of trees dedicated to students who died while attending the college.
Information was sent out after the fact but that was small consolation to the affected parties.
Maybe that’s the real issue: students were not informed or consulted about the tassel change.
Perhaps resentment grows out of proportion to the stringy things because students suspect that something more significant than a tassel is at stake.
I understand the change in tassels might simplify the ordering process but maybe there was way a to streamline the process.
Maybe the switch could have begun with a new freshman class.
The college community expects to be informed of changes that will affect them and to have their opinions given due consideration.
The tassel tussle of 2010 highlights the feelings of students and faculty that they are not being heard.
The expansion of the campus to the Ramsay and Cray buildings is another case of inadequate information being given to students.
The move of three departments may ease the squeeze on campus, but will it exacerbate the decline in our sense of community?
Faculty have expressed the sentiment that the move is about something other than concern for students.
Fundamental to BC’s identity is its sense of community that draws many students to BC.
The professor I spoke with said he is feeling like “we’re kind of not in this together anymore.”
If he’s right, BC’s identity is at risk. Can we afford to focus on growth and expedience with no regard for the rich tradition of BC community that makes the college so attractive to new students and alumni?
Is the tassel tussle of 2010 really irrelevant or just the tip of the iceberg that will sink us? I don’t know. I’m just asking.
Laurie Ghigliotti is a senior from Atchison, Kan., and is majoring in Journalism and Spanish. She can be reached at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .
