DDP Poll of Student Population finds majority in favor of "For Fucking Out Loud, We Don't Care Anymore"
In a recent campus-wide poll administered by the DDP Curriculum Subcommittee
regarding the possible adoption of the Dynamics of Difference and Power overlay
requirement for future Pomona students, the committee found that 82% of Pomona
College students voted in favor of the option "For fucking out loud, please
leave us alone. Jesus Christ, we really don't care anymore". The results
come after several months of meetings, proposals, symposiums, lectures, panel
discussions, mass emails, study breaks, table tents, demonstrations, suicide
bombings and flyers of every color imaginable related to the issue of adopting
a DDP requirement for incoming freshmen.
"We decided it would be a good idea to poll the entire student population
for their thoughts on the matter," said Matt Lapton, head of the DDP Curriculum
Subcommittee. "We'd already polled the entire school on the subjects of
racial privilege, white supremacy and how each affect our learning environment
on several occasions, but we wanted to take one more opportunity and ask them
the most important question of all: do you actually support the DDP or not?"
In an effort to make sure that no student left the survey untouched, the DDP
subcommittee went to extensive lengths to verify each student's participation
and keep the pressure on those that had not yet contributed. "If we hadn't
received the survey back from a student within three days, we began sending
them emails in six-hour increments until they decided to participate,"
Lapton said. "For some people, that wasn't enough, and we had to put them
on the freshman class mass-emailing list for a few days. That usually worked."
Although the process was successful in gauging the opinions of 100% of Pomona
students, the results themselves did not strike the subcommittee as entirely
positive. "We were really hoping that, if we got everyone motivated about
the issue, we'd get a firm majority backing by the student populace at large,"
said Subcommittee member Sheryl Agnew. "But now it almost seems as if college
students are turning apathetic to these important social issues. What happened?"
"I never really thought DDP was a great idea," said Omar Larocca
'03. "But as soon as I voiced my problems with it, these people started
calling me racist, and now people throw bricks through my window every other
day or so. Some guy even tried to shave my head the other day. I don't get it,
I mean, is it wrong to believe that college students should be able to make
their own choices when it comes to their own education? Or is that racist too?
I just don't know anymore."
"I did have an opinion on the matter," Thomas Danson '05 said, "long
ago. I remember it had something to do with a series of table tents written
in a highly accusatory and condescending manner… no, beyond that, I don't
have a clue. I must've made myself forget."
"I remember forgetting about the survey and letting it go for a week,"
Jennifer Lee said. "They called me at 8:15 one morning asking why I wasn't
intensely interested in an issue that didn't directly concern me or any of my
friends here at Pomona College. I just didn't know what to tell them."
Interestingly enough, the option chosen by the grand majority of the school
was not originally available as an option on the survey. "The options available
were originally simply yes and no," Agnew said. "Yet 82% of students
actually refrained from selecting either option, instead writing the phrase
'for fucking out loud, please leave us alone. Jesus Christ, we really don't
care anymore' in the blank spot underneath the other choices. After we got a
hundred or so of these replies, we decided to just give the response its own
category. The weird part was that each survey said exactly the same thing, with
completely identical wording. I guess everyone was irritated to exactly the
same degree. Well, that's just bizarre."
Although the results may have an impact on the conduct of further DDP-related
issues, the committee commented that the push for a DDP program would continue.
Many students feel that although they have made their opinions known, the problem
is not being adequately addressed. For many, however, the damage has already
been done.
"I have no comment on this issue," said Rosemary Adams '04. "Please,
do not hate me. I… I remember when I was not afraid to voice my opinions,
oh so long ago… I wish I still possessed the ability to laugh, or cry,
or enjoy the beauty of a mid-summer sunset. But now I just feel like something
has been stolen from me, and I can never love again."