Vermont isn’t a hotbed of misogyny - indeed, it’s one of the more progressive parts of the country, as evidenced by the recent movement to secede from the Union [and no, the movement isn't even that recent].
The University of Vermont’s student body is, however, largely ignorant when it comes to basic knowledge. Watch this brief video from UVMtv that asks female UVMers how they feel about women’s suffrage: [RSS readers click here for video, opens in new window]
Many of these undergraduates confuse “suffrage,” the right to vote, with “suffering.” They’re different things.
These budding scholars say:
- “I think it should be taken away.”
- “That it’s bad and should never happen.”
- “… guess that’s not really a good thing.”
Sure, some of them know what suffrage is and that equality and rights are a good thing - they’ve mastered a 7th grade curriculum. But isn’t there something charmingly sad, like watching a three-legged, one-eyed dog try to keep up with the neighborhood pack, about a ~21 year old girl who says about the victims of suffrage:
“I feel for them, ya know… as a woman myself, um… and hopefully they have good families and stuff to back them up and if they don’t then hopefully they have places they can go… shelters or whatever to help them out?”
UVM isn’t a bad school and, as far as public universities go, it provides a quality education at a reasonable price.
Having said that, I hope that more people understand after seeing this video why I’m not automatically impressed by a BA/BS [or any degree program]. It most certainly isn’t a certification of even the most basic knowledge that a product of higher education should command.
The larger question here: if a student at a decent school doesn’t have an understanding of one of the most basic social/political developments of 20th century America, how can they possibly tackle some of the complex issues facing the West?
May God bless the victims of women’s suffrage, but also those precious, tragically-ignorant darlings in the video.
[courtesy of the ever-vigilant phi beta cons]
UPDATE at 8.01.07, 3.33pm:
Thomas C. Reeves wrote on the National Association of Scholars Online Forum a brief essay on graduation days. In it he says, with all emphasis mine:
While a professor, I never attended a graduation exercise. I sought not only to avoid the hot air from the podium, but also because I knew that so few of the graduates had sought and been given a rigorous, intellectually demanding, and broad education for their money. Yes, there had been individual achievement in all areas; three cheers for the few. But who in those robes with the silly hats was committed to a life of learning and thought? How many would elevate their cultural tastes? How many among the graduates had even a vague interest in anything beyond making money, having fun, and being politically correct? Many of them had already sold their books. Seniors often told me how delightful life would soon be when they no longer had to study.
An appropriate comment on these UVMers, though the last line might express too much hope that those seniors have studied at all.
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