Spotlight: The Great Divide (Community Standards Quotes)
March 21, 2007
I don’t have all the answers. But I do believe that the university is about questions, and it’s good for students to question community standards and the reason behind them. And it’s good to question whether there’s room for adjustment. We welcome questioning and critique. – Jonathan Raymond
In a community that includes undergraduates and graduates, 18-year-olds and 22-year-olds—and there’s a world of difference between the two—how do you deal with a university community as a faith community when you’ve got these enormous shifts going on developmentally? You have to create other frameworks that respect the kind of developmental differences there may be. I’m still fuzzy on how to do that. – Jonathan Raymond
The last thing in the world we want to do is equip people to live by rules. We want them to become people of principle and character. – Dennis Jameson, Provost
I really like the school and what the professors have to offer but dislike the way Community Life treats violators of Community Standards. Governing an institution while trying to enforce moral standards is not the best way for a Christian university to influence. Students must make the choice on controversial topics like the ones covered in the community standards–these should not be forced. - student
You can go out on the patio, you can come to the university cabinet table, you can go to the RA, you can go to the faculty member, and you can question. Questioning is just part of university life. But there are behavioural expectations for participation in this community. – Dennis Jameson, Provost
Life is very open-ended. One can deal with it with prescriptions, but I think, for a lot of us—and to me, this is also profoundly biblical—life is lived through making mistakes. And through burning your fingers, you establish guidelines for yourself. – Dirk Buchner, RELS Prof
It has its faults. The community standards make it very difficult to talk to people who exist outside of the TWU community because they become an automatic brick wall against open communication (people tend to believe that we are all very close-minded). - student
“In regards to legislating morality, this has never been the understanding of student life or the univeristy, but community standards are part of a social contract that exists for the benefit of the students.” - Tim McCarthy, Student Ministries
Among those who have violated community standards:
13% smoked marijuana
51% possessed alcohol
16% cheated or stole
11% had extramarital sex
18% gambled
25% of students agree with TWU’s community standards
24% agree in spirit, think the guidelines are legalistic
9% don’t agree
37% agree with some aspects of it, but not all
Now you go...
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