3 ms·

The main criticism is that Dean Spellman referred to a marginalized student as "not fitting the [Claremont Mckenna] mold". This is harmful. It is more than a po

The main criticism is that Dean Spellman referred to a marginalized student as "not fitting the [Claremont Mckenna] mold". This is harmful. It is more than a poor choice of words. She should have apologized and done some training. But the students are young and have no where else to direct their frustration. I hope Spellman can land on her feet. And I hope minority students can feel less marginalized on campus.

001sky 11y ago
I'd disagree, completely. Its just shitty english grammer. The notion that somone might not "fit [a] mold", is a trivial comment. The implication that if someone mis-states this comment as saying someone might not "fit [the] mold" is simply the substitution of the definite for the indefinite article. Put another way, there is no "literal" truth to the comment. There is not [a] mold; nor are there [any] molds that exist (in the literal sense) at any college. That whole expression is a figue of speech. TLRD--this whole thing is about a fucking typo in an e-mail.
- kelukelugames 11y ago
  I hope you don't disagree completely with wishing Spellman luck in finding another job and the students being in a better place too. ;) Of course Spellman didn't intend to hurt, but leaders should have more situational awareness. I wish people here had empathy for the students. Being a minority in this country can be hard. They are not upset because of a single grammar mistake. They've experienced dozens of slights and want the campus administrators to be more aware. For example, here is a video of the Ithaca incident: [1]. The panelists had a tone deaf moment due to a poor choice of words, and it's a moment that any of us could have had. Of course, if you think it's 100% okay to refer to black people as savages then we won't ever find any common ground. [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q-QNeQR3WAg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q-QNeQR3WAg PS Look for the guy in the green shirt at the end of the video.
  - deleted 11y ago
    [deleted]

001sky 11y ago

I'd disagree, completely. Its just shitty english grammer. The notion that somone might not "fit [a] mold", is a trivial comment. The implication that if someone mis-states this comment as saying someone might not "fit [the] mold" is simply the substitution of the definite for the indefinite article. Put another way, there is no "literal" truth to the comment. There is not [a] mold; nor are there [any] molds that exist (in the literal sense) at any college. That whole expression is a figue of speech. TLRD--this whole thing is about a fucking typo in an e-mail.

kelukelugames 11y ago
I hope you don't disagree completely with wishing Spellman luck in finding another job and the students being in a better place too. ;) Of course Spellman didn't intend to hurt, but leaders should have more situational awareness. I wish people here had empathy for the students. Being a minority in this country can be hard. They are not upset because of a single grammar mistake. They've experienced dozens of slights and want the campus administrators to be more aware. For example, here is a video of the Ithaca incident: [1]. The panelists had a tone deaf moment due to a poor choice of words, and it's a moment that any of us could have had. Of course, if you think it's 100% okay to refer to black people as savages then we won't ever find any common ground. [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q-QNeQR3WAg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q-QNeQR3WAg PS Look for the guy in the green shirt at the end of the video.
- deleted 11y ago
  [deleted]