Goshen College, a "pacifist" school with ties to the Menonite Church, isn't the sort of place I would have gone or recommended my children go to. Its long history of not playing "The Star-Spangled Banner" (for some, because it's a "martial" song, for others because it puts country above God) is not a posture I would embrace. But now that the college is going to institute a compromise by playing an instrumental version of the national anthem before some sporting events, I have more sympathy for the protesters than I do for the school. The reason for the compromise is sadly familiar:
"We're very aware that not everyone on our campus that's part of this community shares the same views," said college spokeswoman Jodi Beyeler. "We believe that everyone here should feel like this is home."
[. . .]
Goshen College officials say discussions about whether to change the policy began in September 2008 when the athletic department asked Brenneman to reconsider the school's stance. Brenneman said the teams often bore the brunt of criticism about the policy because the anthem's absence is most visible at sporting events, where it has become part of American culture.
Two months later, a parent from a visiting team game complained to the athletics director when the anthem wasn't played, said Vice President for Student Life Bill Born.
One parent complained, and it wasn't even the parent of a student at Goshen. How often have a handful of people been able to get something pulled from the shelves or out of a curriculum? How often have our institutions been put through upheaval because one crank went to court or even just threatened to go to court?
Goshen College doesn't exist to make everyone "feel at home," and it's certainly not obligated to to bow to something just because it's part of "American culture." (The mixture of sporting events and the national anthem is probably even a new form of religion, which might be one reason for Goshen to stay clear of it.) We don't have to agree with what they do or why they do it to believe they should be left in peace to go their own way. Such acceptance is part of our commitment to diversity, right?
Comments
I won't sing the Star Spangled Banner either.
It's a lousy song, and who in the world can hit those high notes?
America the Beautiful would be a better national anthem: less war, prettier tune.
I've always been a bit fascinated by Goshen College, and have seen some of my favorite artists there. I met the writer Wendell Berry there , and saw musical acts Carrie Newcomer and Los Lobos there. I don't care what they do, as long as they keep bringing people like these around.
W.B.'s great novel "A Place on Earth" is one of my favorite coping-with-war works of art, ranking right up there with the movie "Best Years of Our Lives." I've sometimes thought he was a bit of a back-to-basics nut, going so far as to write with a pencil and paper, rather than get a computer, let alone an electric typewriter, so he wouldn't be "tied to" the power companies. But he's a Kentucky nut, so let's hear no criticism from flatlanders. He was envionmentally conscious before that was the cool thing to be, and he has at least lived the life he's preached, unlike modern eco-phonies who berate the rest of us for using the wrong kind of lighbulb while they're living in 30-room mansions. But what can you expect from Tennesseans?
What I like about Berry is that he's such an original thinker, and a solid writer of essays, poetry, short stories and novels. He creates such a living and vivid sense of place, and his love of his native land is contagious. He was also very gracious that day at Goshen College.