The Dooley Show Controversy and Free Expression on Campus

Dooley Show Affirmative Action Joke by andoatnp

Right before break, The Dooley Show made an extremely insensitive joke about the “lynching” of Affirmative Action Students at Emory at the end of an episode. The response has been swift and fierce. A Petition to suspend the Dooley show from ETV is up over 500 signatures, and the Facebook page calling for the shows ouster has garnered dozens of posts in support of taking down the Dooley Show. Yet the responders, while wholly justified in their anger, is on the verge of taking their war one battle too far, by asking SGA or the administration to step in and punish the Dooley Show, ETV, or both, depending on who is doing the demanding. This is a mistake, which while made with the best of intentions, will have a negative effect on free expression, and the free exchange of ideas in this community long term.

Now before I get started laying out my case against Student Government, Administration, or Faculty intervention, let me start by saying that I do not condone the comments made by the Dooley Show Host. Furthermore, I believe that ETV should do the right thing and suspend the show for the rest of the school year along with their apology from a few days ago. Also as a note: This column is written with the assumption that the comment was a joke and not a direct threat to the minority students on campus (Since the show is comedy show, it seems pretty clear it was an awful joke and not a true threat). Despite all this, it still is incumbent on those with power to change the final outcome of this situation to take the long-term consequences of any reaction into consideration before leveling final judgment on The Dooley Show or ETV.

Emory is a school that like many other institutions of higher learning is based on the idea that everyone has the right to express him or herself freely. While not a Public Institution, and thus not subject to the First Amendment, Emory still claims to uphold the right of individuals to speak their mind regardless of their viewpoint. In fact, Emory’s own Equal Opportunity and Discriminatory Harassment Policy States:

"Emory University abides by the values of academic freedom and is built on the assumption that contention among different views is positive and necessary for the expansion of knowledge, both for the University itself and as a training ground for society at large. Emory is committed to the widest possible scope for the free circulation of ideas."

What this means in the context of this discussion, is that no matter how offensive or derogatory the remark was toward the beneficiaries of Affirmative Action, they did have the right to say it under the auspices of university policy. For those who found the mark to be in poor taste or worse (namely: everyone), it is our job as a student body to challenge it strongly, stifle its spread through reason and logic, but not suppress it through the use of either Student Government or the University at large.

But why is it so important to keep the University out of this issue? There are two ways in which the University could interfere, and one in which SGA could become involved. Both are extremely problematic.

In the first instance, the University could directly punish the members of the Dooley Show or less likely, ETV, using community service, a reprimand, or other punishment tool. I am opposed to this on the grounds stated above, that as an institution dedicated to preserving the right of people to express themselves freely, they cannot interfere without expressly denouncing their own stated institutional goal and worse, making speech only so free as it does not offend someone else.

The second, and most called for response, is the denying funding to ETV if they continue to run the Dooley Show. The chief argument being made for this point is that no ones tuition money should have to fund a derogatory comment. While well intentioned, this argument fails in the broader scope of the University.

The reason is that, as an institution that is dedicated to Free Expression, it creates challenges if the precedent for banning something from campus is “a lot of people find it offensive”. For example, if a group brought William Ayers to campus to speak, having previously orchestrated acts of terrorism but now serving as a retired Professor, could we not refuse all money to the group that brought him because we do not want tuition money put toward ends that offend a lot of students? Furthermore, could a campus group be denied all funding for bringing Ann Coulter to campus, because of the myriad of inflammatory things she has said over the past ten years, even though she is a best selling author? This gets unbelievably sticky quickly, and leads us to a dangerous place as an institution. And that is all without mentioning the travails if a hard line pro-Palestinian, or pro-Israeli speaker or group did something that severely angered the other sizeable population on campus. By using the Administration or Student Government to attack the Dooley Show, this effort will be using a blunt instrument to cut into a serious, but limited problem.

If we accept that either SGA or the Administration can withhold money to an organization based purely on what the clubs message is, then we will in effect make every club’s message completely subservient to the whims of SGA or the Administration at large. This is not acceptable if we care at all about the open exchange of ideas here at Emory.

Now many supporters of this movement may disagree that free expression on campus is as important as leveling justice on The Dooley Show. But I ask you to look around and see that free expression is affording you a great victory right now. There is a minority civil rights conversation happening that could not have happened without this comment. The Dooley show has been completely discredited by everyone who has seen the video clip. At a minimum the show will probably be suspended, and no one will ever take it seriously again. So I am merely asking that supporters not make their victory aver intolerance one that also serves to stifle what allowed your victory in the first place; The free expression of ideas. 

Speak Up Emory!

As Emory students, we have been molded to challenge the norm, to question the thoughts and opinions of others, and to use our lives to not only do well, but to do good.  We have continually been pushed to engage about issues that matter to us, and we have learned the importance of proper dialogue for any situation.  After all, we are students at a university “Where Courageous Inquiry Leads” us on the daily. 

We are currently faced with some pretty big changes to our university, the College in particular.  While this change may seem to only affect certain departments or programs, it does indeed affect every member of the Emory University community.  Change isn’t inherently good or bad, but it is inherently an alteration to what’s considered normal.  Albeit cliché, change is almost never easy, but it’s usually during the hardest transitions that we learn the most about our values and ourselves.  As we look to the future, we need to think about these changes and how they redefine us as an institution.

As I begin to write, I’m happy to say that I am now joining what seems to be a chorus of voices shocked and perhaps a bit outraged at the recent situation. We are being faced with a change to our university, and we are coming together as a community.  Something I have always questioned is what makes a strong community? What unifies us? Sure, it’s the triumphs, the happy times: Songfest, Wonderful Wednesdays, Homecoming Events, etc. But, perhaps more importantly, a truly strong community, when faced with uncertainty, failure, or embarrassment, will firmly unite as well. It’s a time like now, where we as students may not see the academic plan set forth as clearly as the administration, that we must continue banding together to fight and to understand.

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Clairmont Pool Break-In, Coitus, Cops, and 'The Great Escape'

At 3:15 this morning 6 students were spotted entering the Clairmont pool over the fence by the diving boards. Four entered originally and began jumping off the high dive. Soon two disapeered apparently because the man I will affectionately refer to as Ryan Howard was touching all the bases. Soon after, two more students climbed the fence and began to swim. Two of the original four, left the premises after about twenty minutes, leaving 'Ryan Howard' and his female companion, as well as the two newer entrants in the pool. 

At roughly 3:40 AM, as the two males were leaving the pool deck a lady in pajamas (probably a campus director of some type) walked up to the gate and began snapping photos of the perpetrators. When they explained to her that they were just leaving she said, "you are too late, you already broke in". When they spotted the cop coming up behind her they began running toward the SAAC, but stopped once it was apparent that Emory PD had the pool sourrounded. 

What followed was a hillarious exchange. The cop, now speaking to them through the fence, was trying to get them to give up the other two people inside the fence who were MIA. One of the males, said, "I am on the basketball team, I don't want to get kicked off the team!"

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Emory Shouldn't Run on Dunkin'

I am writing to you all to share my disappointment about the university’s recent decision to put a Dunkin’ Donuts in our beloved DUC. Not that I am terribly saddened to see Einstein’s go, I am just not certain that Dunkin’ Donuts belongs at our university. I’m not anti-doughnuts or some crazy health nut. In fact, I probably love doughnuts more than most people. 

Since a freshman, I have seen our campus grow and develop.  Many new LEED-certified buildings have been constructed in accordance with Emory’s mission in becoming a more sustainable institution. We’ve seen an increase in bike lanes and better pedestrian access across campus.  And, most recently, we have become a smoke-free campus in an effort to prevent disease and to support a more sustainable lifestyle. 

Through my time at Emory both inside and outside of the classroom, I have come to understand that living sustainably isn’t just reducing our power consumption; it’s a way of life.  Being sustainable requires a holistic approach, and one that I believe the university needs to steadfastly embrace.  It’s eating healthy, local food that will extend our lives and not require too many natural resources to move them from the farm to our campus. It’s making sure that we exercise and learn the importance of a physically active lifestyle. Sustainability is about building a community that fosters success and moves our university forward.

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DISCLAIMER: I’m a Democrat, I’m a Woman, and- That’s Right- I’m Angry. So what if I’m a Walking Stereotype?

I recently had lunch with four of my girl friends, women who I consider to be both beautiful and ridiculously intelligent. Yet, when I brought up the ‘Republican war on women,’ only ONE of them knew what I was talking about. The other three knew shockingly little about the mandate for all employers to provide health insurance that covers birth control; the resulting backlash from the Catholic Church; the lack of women on the panel for the Congressional hearing on said debate; Rush Limbaugh’s misogynistic comments about women who assert their right to have birth control and choose when they get pregnant; the Pennsylvania bill that would force women to have an extremely invasive vaginal ultrasound before having an abortion; and, maybe most importantly for the women at Emory, the bill recently passed by the Georgia Senate that would limit the time in which women can get abortions by six weeks and would mandate that abortions performed after 20 weeks be done in a manner that would allow that the fetus be born alive.

I’ll stop there, not because there isn’t more to say, but because at a certain point these absurdities become a mundane list rather than the attack on women’s rights that they truly are.

While I obviously have an opinion on all of this (see title of post), I think I’m more angry about the lack of response- no, scratch that- the lack of AWARENESS in the Emory community. It comes as no shock to me that the Emory student body is apathetic- I think that’s clear to anyone trying to run an organization on this campus- but I have to admit I’m shocked by this level of ignorance.

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