Sep 8, 2008 Posted | 2 comments

That Trite Boston University Dean of Students on Registering to Vote

trite, adj. Overused, “lacking in freshness of effectiveness.” Recommended synonyms: hackneyed, stale, shopworn.

The semester has officially begun - as signaled by Boston University Dean of Students Kenneth Elmore pandering to the kiddies on his Dean’s Blog. After inviting the University’s youth to spend a few minutes listening to Mary J. Blige, Elmore advises:

“Finally, if you are eligible to do so, I encourage you to register to vote. I mean no political endorsement when I encourage you to take a look at the Rock the Vote Web site and use their easy registration forms. (If you can suggest other sites, send them to me and I will post a tweet.)”

I’ve got a few suggestions, though they may not “jive,” as the kids say [!], with Elmore’s commitment to MTV politics. Students can:

• Fill out The National Mail Voter Registration Form available through the Federal Elections Commission.
• Visit the League of Women Voters website for more voting/registration resources than you can count.
• Google “voter registration” and see that every state makes it easy to register.

Those are a few of the “other sites” that we already pay for via taxes or private donations. Rocket science, Dean Elmore? No - common sense.

“If you drop off a voter registration form to my office, we’ll make sure it gets to the right place.”

I’d rather you focused on the business of education - God knows there’s plenty to do, even at an excellent University like [y]ours. Stick to your job.

No unnecessary bureaucracy or responsibilities. Really, Dean Elmore, if you want your students to register to vote, have them print out the federal form at drop it in a mailbox. That’s all it takes - and familiarizing students with one of the few no-nonsense facets of our republic is a better idea than coddling and nannying.

“Look for voter registration drives organized by departments, clubs, and organizations around campus. Remember that elections are held this and every year.”

Boston University isn’t a rotten place - it’s wonderful, and it pumps out many talented graduates. Elmore, however, doesn’t see a problem with having to suggest to those on whom degrees will be conferred that elections happen every year.

Maybe it’s a reminder to international students new to Planet America? Probably not, since they aren’t voters.

“This Friday, during our weekly Coffee & Conversation session, let’s talk about voting and the upcoming election of the leader of the world.”

I’m as pro-American as any sensible person can get, but I don’t describe the President of the United States as the “leader of the world.” Leader of the free world has certain connotations - I’ll go with that - but I’ll leave titles like “King of the World” to young, excited lovers leaning precariously off the bow of a ship.

Maybe I’ll drop by the Coffee and Conversation the next time I’m on campus. Perhaps we could talk about treating college students as adults.

FYI, I prefer espresso.

I’ll leave you with Dean Elmore’s post script:

P.S.

I confess that I dig Girl Talk – can’t wait to see him on September 20. I’ve got two extra tickets. I’ll give them to the person who sends me the coolest photo of life at BU. You can send the photo to [email protected] by Tuesday, September 16, 2008. I’ll post some of the good pictures. Good luck!

Visit this blog often.

UPDATE: There’s a follow-up to this post at Intellectual Dishonesty and Fearmongering on the Boston University Dean’s Blog.

2 Responses to “That Trite Boston University Dean of Students on Registering to Vote”

1. chelsey says:

   September 9, 2008 at 10:50 am

   Interesting take on a seemingly harmless post by Dean Elmore-who is one of BU’s most popular Deans in recent history. He’s made great strides in connecting students (who were often ignored and apathetic during Silber’s term as President) with administration. Getting things done for everyone. He cares about students and about BU.

   So what if he reminds students to vote and points to a site/organization that is well recognized with the current generation of undergraduate students. Who cares how they register or where they register, the point is that they do register. Do you know how many times students have told me they couldn’t do ___ because they didn’t have a stamp, or a printer, or any number of excuses. If the DOS office is willing to take out one of the obstacles for students to register, I’m all for it. Maybe put the work study students to work!

   It frustrates me that you belittle Dean Elmore for trying to connect to students, in any way possible, including having a “trite” blog when he could be the unapproachable DOS/administration that many other universities have.
2. Matthew K. Tabor says:

   September 9, 2008 at 11:36 am

   chelsey,

   Seemingly harmless? Yes. That’s why I cleared up any confusion.

   “He’s made great strides in connecting students (who were often ignored and apathetic during Silber’s term as President) with administration.”

   During Dr. Silber’s term, I always had phone calls returned and letters answered.

   “So what if he reminds students to vote and points to a site/organization that is well recognized with the current generation of undergraduate students.”

   There are 1,000 reasons to the “so what?” question, but I’ll focus on one. A major reason why college education at private universities is so expensive - and Boston University isn’t cheap - is because of expanding staff/responsibilities in res life and DoS offices. Some of the expansion is good; most of it isn’t. I don’t see registering students to vote as a critical or central function of either office - especially when there are so many excellent groups on camps who already tackle the issue.

   “Do you know how many times students have told me they couldn’t do ___ because they didn’t have a stamp, or a printer, or any number of excuses. If the DOS office is willing to take out one of the obstacles for students to register, I’m all for it.”

   I hope you realize how ridiculous this sounds. Really, no stamp, no printer? Register electronically. Use your print quota at the computer lab.

   I wouldn’t call any of these things an “obstacle” to voter registration.

   “It frustrates me that you belittle Dean Elmore for trying to connect to students, in any way possible, including having a “trite” blog when he could be the unapproachable DOS/administration that many other universities have.”

   Dean Elmore is welcome to e-mail, call or reply here to discuss any of this. So is anyone else, for that matter, though I prefer open, public discussion because everyone can benefit from it.

   You’re frustrated; so am I. I’m frustrated that a University in which I have a great deal of pride fritters and wastes time and resources on voter registration instead of higher education.

   I want to be clear about one thing - from all accounts, Dean Elmore is a delightful, personable guy [this is likely why he's so popular]. I’ve got no complaints there. Having said that, my bar is set higher than fawning over someone because they aren’t “unapproachable.”