Students Against: A Letter

Amendment One is an issue that has unified the Salem College community. Across racial, ethnic, religious, and partisan lines, students have taken a stand against this loose and discriminatory measure. The student legislative body of Salem College voted to pass a resolution standing firmly against Amendment One, making Salem the eighth college campus in North Carolina to do so. As the co-director of the Salem College Student Activist Movement, an umbrella organization for all activist groups on campus, I believe Amendment One is not a partisan issue. Amendment One writes discrimination into our state constitution, not only undermining the principles of religious freedom and the separation of church and state, but also making members in our community live as “second-class” citizens. It is for this reason that the leadership of the Salem College Democrats, Republicans, Libertarians, and the Student Activist Movement have formed a coalition Against Amendment One on this campus. Together, these leaders have conducted registration drives and informed students about the harms the Amendment will have on heterosexual and homosexual couples, women and domestic violence protections, and children of single parents. –Keren Salim, Director of Salem College Student Activist Movement

            Two things that are most important to my identity are my belief in the Christian faith and my activism as a young Conservative in politics, specifically in the endeavors of the Republican Party on campus, in the community, and at the local, state, and federal levels. I believe in the core ideals of this party, most importantly the ideals of limited government and the separation of Church and State. For these reasons, I stand firmly Against Amendment One. For me, it is not just an issue of the degree to which the Amendment impacts the state. It is the issue of how far the government is allowed to take its regulation of our lives. It is an issue of hypocrisy as well. As a Conservative, how can I argue for my belief in the importance of keeping the Church separate from the State and limited government intervention in business while simultaneously allowing government to unnecessarily define social institutions that are religious at their foundations? My opinion, be it positive or negative, be it the opinion of the majority or the minority, does not grant me the right to regulate someone’s lifestyle. Meanwhile, as this argument unfolds, we have an economy that is in desperate need of fixing, an unacceptable rate of unemployment, students graduating from college with mounting debt and slim to no job prospects, and an increasingly negative view of the effectiveness of government. There are more pressing, relevant matters that need our attention. –Jennifer Palmer, Chairwoman of Salem College Republicans

As a leader in the county, state, and Salem College Democrats, I believe in protecting the rights of all individuals, a belief that reflects the true purpose of a state’s constitution. As a sister and daughter, I stand firmly opposed to any measure which further restricts the rights and safety of women. If wrongly passed, an unmarried person will no longer be able to access domestic violence protections because they will not be considered to be in a “legal union,” and will also be unable to access partner benefits for the purpose of necessary health care. This is true for any unmarried couple and will disproportionately harm women, even affecting those who are currently receiving domestic violence protection. As a member of the LGBTQ community, I see this as an attack on my civil rights and another form of “otherizing” and dehumanizing myself and my peers. As a person, I am already a victim of separate but equal treatment; if this is passed, I will also be a second-class citizen as defined in the constitution. This is discrimination. –Samantha Kiley, President of Salem College Democrats

As the founder of the Young Americans for Liberty, Salem College Chapter and a representative of the Libertarian students on our campus, I am very proud to be speaking out against Amendment One. Libertarianism is predicated on the principles of individual liberty, equality under the law and voluntary association for all citizens; not just individuals held in higher regard by any particular interest group. Amendment One and similar legislation embarrasses many students on our campus because it institutionalizes discrimination. Perhaps more embarrassing is the lack of logical supporting arguments offered by the amendment’s advocates. Amendment One supporters justify the secularism of this legislation through very subjective assumptions aimed at negating the ability of homosexual couples or single parents to provide an adequate environment for raising children. If the families of heterosexual couples are provided benefits for joining together in a state-recognized “domestic union,” denying those benefits to non-traditional families (such as those that many students, including myself, have experienced) is blatantly unjust. Even if the biased interpretations of this ambiguously subjective data could be considered as a valid analysis of correlating factors affecting society, legislation like Amendment One has no place in the constitution of North Carolina, which is meant to protect every citizen’s liberties and freedoms. –Jennifer Jones, Founder of Salem College Young Americans for Liberty

Don’t wake up on May 9th wishing you had done more. Get informed, get involved, and go vote Against Amendment One.

Sincerely,

Keren, Jennifer, Samantha, and Jennifer

Student Leadership Awards 2012

Sara Otero, c/o 2014 and Whitney Pritchard, c/o 2012

On Wednesday night, the Salem community gathered to recognize the varied accomplishments of its students at the 2012 Student Leadership Awards Banquet. The long-awaited Student Government Association election results started off the evening’s recognitions.

President: Christina Johnson

Vice President: Cassie Hardy

Secretary: Shelby Oldham

Treasurer: Hannah Greenwald

Honor Council Chair: Lindsey Herman

Judicial Council Chair: Katie McMahon

Honor Council Secretary: Layne Poplin

Judicial Council Secretary: April Eaker

CAB President: Sarah Goscinski

CAB Vice President: Cierra Young

CAB Secretary: Erica Shepperd-Debnam

CAB Treasurer: Shericka Usher

CAB Volunteer Coordinator: Taylor Edwards

Pierettes President: Miracle Thomas

ONUA President: Chelsea Jackson

Fall Fest Chair: Anu Patel

Following SGA results, awards based on nominations from theSalemcommunity were announced.

Jess Byrd Scholar of the Year: Samantha Hubbard

Publications Excellence Award: Jenni Swarthout

Pierettes Award: Alex Carreiro and Vera Gies

Class Spirit Award: WrenWilson(c/o 2012), Emily Abel (2013), Anu Patel (2014), Nataly Mojica (2015)

Fleer Center Spirit Award: John Johnson, Judy Dearborn, Rose Brown, Tameicka Clear, Shirley Ervin, Brent Neuenschwander, Andrea Parker, Tia Buster, Kimberly Walser

FleerCenterLeadership Award: Jenny Barker, Melissa Peller, Angela Wilson

ODK Emerging Leader Award: Kayla Campbell

LeaderShape Representatives 2012: Nataly Mojica, April Eaker

Women’s Wellness Inspiration Award: the production of For Colored Girls

Clark Thompson Community Service Award: Keren Salim

Carroll Lennon Residential Life Leadership Award: Sara Maher

Ann McPherson Weaver Community Relations Award: Sara Otero

Sarah Covington Fulcher Leadership Award: Roody Volcy

Congratulations to all Salem leaders!

Regarding the Stop Hate Campaign

Emily Abel, c/o 2013

A quick disclaimer—while I am open to (privately) answering questions regarding the feelings that I experienced in connection with secret societies, I will not be sharing details about the societies themselves or giving out any information about (or names of) their current or former members. I do this in respect for the people who have genuinely tried and are genuinely trying to use secret societies to improve this campus and this community.

Hello Salem College! I’d rather not be the rain cloud casting its gloomy shadow over this “stop hate” parade, but I have some issues with this campaign that I would like to address.

In case all the flyers have gone missing from the Refectory, here is the campaign’s mission statement: “The mission of the STOP HATE campaign is to raise awareness, promote equality and combat all hate within our community through the use of visual art, collaboration, and sponsorship.”

Wow. All hate, huh? That’s a pretty lofty goal. So, what does “hate” mean, anyway? Well, according to Webster, hate is defined as “intense dislike, extreme aversion or hostility.” So, is this a campaign that combats, say, my extreme aversion to doing my homework on time? Or my housemates’ intense dislike of late-night whistling in the shower? I’m guessing that these are not what this campaign is actually seeking to combat. I’m guessing that by the dramatic, large letters on the poster in the front of the Refectory and the political-esque slogans tacked into the mission statement, this campaign is targeting hate crimes and general negative feelings people have toward each other on this campus. But then again, it’s pretty vague, so I can’t be sure—and neither can you, unless you’re a member of the Order.

While we’re on the topic of hate, here’s something that I hate: hypocrisy – and that’s what this campaign reeks of. The very nature of secret societies on campus promotes secrecy, exclusivity, and division of the student body. The majority of the student body is not part of the Order of the Scorpions, so even though we may have an idea of who the members are, we have no idea what they are actually doing – besides leaving eggs and donuts and pumpkins around campus at certain times of year. The only clues we get are the description of the society given to us on page 77 of our handbook and those things they themselves choose to tell us, which may or may not be true. The rest we can only guess and gossip about. They cannot be held accountable by their fellow students until graduation day, when they reveal their identities, and by that point, virtually no one thinks to ask.

Now, if this were a secret society that was truly made of students, for students, I could perhaps be more open to its existence – but it’s not. It was created to “foster the true spirit and ideals of the College” (which are?) and work to “serve the College with no desire of recognition.” The College? What part of the College? The students? Administration? Faculty? Staff? Well, the fact that the Scorpions are written into the handbook gives me the impression that they have the favor of administrative forces – which, to me, defeats the purpose of eliminating the red tape that all other clubs and organizations have to go through to make things happen on this campus AND means that the Scorpions can act as yet another outlet of power for our already-empowered campus administrators, who, while good people, often tend to disregard student opinions and interest when creating and enforcing campus policies.

In short, the Order of the Scorpions has the potential to act as an invisible policing force on this campus that appeases students with candy and donuts and justifies its existence through its presence in the handbook. Furthermore, to the campus in general, it is an Unknown, and more often than not, the unknown breeds fear, and what does fear breed? Hate. I can tell you from personal experience that inSalem’s past there has been a lot of anxiety, fear, and division on campus due to the existence of multiple secret societies, many of them wanting to do good things forSalem’s campus and its students, but the existence of only one FAVORED society.

Equality? I think not. Awareness? Of what? Racism? Sexism? Homophobia? Transphobia? We have clubs and student leaders raising awareness of global, campus, and community issues every day, and they’re willing to put their names and faces on the line for it. If you want to use visual art to make a difference, how about being the PR representative for one of the various organizations on campus that NEED people to advertise their events and causes, or joining the art society and starting a socially conscious incentive there? If you want to collaborate, call your fellow students together to talk or organize, either under the structure of an already-made club or just for the sake of having a conversation. And sponsorship? Who, exactly, is sponsoring the Order of the Scorpions? How do they raise funds? How much of our money is appropriated to them, if any?

It is my belief that we should not have secret societies on our campus at all. As a former member of such a society, I experienced serious social repercussions of joining and leaving the society, many of which still affect me today. There was a period of time when I felt extremely alienated and isolated on this campus, and at times intensely disliked and avoided, and much of that was due to a letter sent out by the Order of the Scorpions last year which I can only guess was approved by administration. I don’t and can’t know for sure how many others have felt this way or how many problems secret societies have caused on this campus in the present and the past, in part due to the general secrecy and silence surrounding the topic of secret societies on campus, but it’s something that needs to be talked about.

I am proposing that rather than blindly following an anonymous society in their advocacy of “anti-hate,” we have a discussion of this issue – we being faculty, staff, students, anyone on Salem’s campus who wants to contribute. Let’s talk about it. When? Where? It’s up to us. And it’s up to all of us to stop hate on this campus, with our dialogue, our words, and our actions. Stopping hate? It starts with you and me as individuals. Not with a secret society.