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Wesleyan: Naked dorms & porn classes - I kid you not
John Leo has worked at many newspapers and magazines, including Time, The New York Times, Commonweal and the Village Voice. He writes about social and cultural trends, pop culture and the amazing nonsense of political correctness. He lives in Manhattan and his column appears Saturday in the News.
Email: johnleo @usnews.com
Naked dorms & porn classes - I kid you not
In fall 2000, I promised my daughter the freshman that I wouldn't write about Wesleyan University (Middletown, Conn.) until she graduated. So, readers learned nothing from me about the naked dorm, the queer prom, the porn-for-credit course, the obscene chalk sidewalk drawings, or the visiting anti-Semitic roadshow, loosely described as a pro-Palestinian conference.
Instead, you usually hear that Wesleyan is very "diverse." Newsweek once hailed the school as the "hottest" diversity campus in America, using the word diversity in its normal campus meaning of "no diversity at all." It said: "Wesleyan is so diverse that you can meet people here from almost every neighborhood in Manhattan." And the students tend to have opinions straight out of MoveOn.org.
After the 2000 election, my daughter told me that 80% of the students voted for Al Gore. "Bush got only 20% of the vote?" I asked. "No, Dad. The 20% was for Nader." Visiting speakers who challenge campus orthodoxy are as rare as woolly mammoths. However, columnist Nat Hentoff, whose son went to Wesleyan, in 2002 criticized the lack of intellectual diversity and free speech.
At a Manhattan holiday party last week, hosted by a friend with Wesleyan ties, I heard my daughter explain that no real debate takes place on campus. This was a major frustration because she is feisty and brilliant and loves to argue ideas. She is politically liberal but wonders how Democrats of her generation will be able to speak convincingly to the middle of the political spectrum when so many of them shun the complexity of arguments and simply spout the party line.
Two years ago the Argus student newspaper ran a survey that said 32% of the students were "uncomfortable speaking their opinion." Orthodoxy plays a role but so does an exaggerated fear of giving offense. Identity politics is so strong that criticizing others' ideas can seem like a faux pas, if not a challenge to their core identity.
The naked dorm and the porn course were both examples of Wesleyan's goal of accommodating as much sexual confusion as possible. The porn course, which had some students filming S&M scenarios, ended when the teacher died. The naked dorm, which featured nude wine and cheese parties, seems to have lost its allure. The obscene chalkings, which included references to professors' sexual practices, are now forbidden, possibly because they upset donors and enraged faculty.
But the Wesleyan campaign to stamp out diversity continues, this time in a move against fraternities. The university is pressuring frats to accept women or pay a stiff price. The anti-frat campaign is standard on the politically correct campus these days, usually with an announced aim of reining in a boozy, sexist, right-wing culture. But Wesleyan has no right-wing culture and no sexist, out-of-control frats.
The administration and radical feminists oppose the frats for violating the campus nondiscrimination rule by not allowing women as members. However, they don't bother to apply the same objection to Womanist House (a residence for females) or Malcolm X House, which caters to blacks.
I think my daughter got a decent education at Wesleyan. You can do this if you are strong-minded, independent and willing to pick your courses very carefully. But be warned: If you are fainthearted, go somewhere else.
Originally published on January 2, 2005
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