A few days ago Kishan Putta '96 was told that he was not especially welcome at a meeting held by Women of Color United to discuss their reactions to the recent debate on racism between Dinesh D'Souza '83 and Government Professor Roger Masters.
"I can understand that you might feel excluded, however, my sense is that the group exists for specific purposes that would not be served by making it open to men or white women," read the e-mail that Giavanna Munafo, head of the Women's Resource Center, sent to Putta in response to his disappointment that he was "banned from [attending] simply because of my Y-gene."
Also in response to Putta's sentiments, Yun Chung '97 said that "it's a support group for women of color, so you can deduce your own judgment as to the appropriateness of your being there." Chung is actively involved with the WRC and women's issues at Dartmouth.
While Putta took these conversations with Munafo and Chung to mean that he was not allowed to go (Letter to the Editor, Nov. 8, 1995), this was not the case. "The meetings are designed for women of color to work out and express their views and feelings in a safe, comfortable environment," Munafo said in an interview. "It's not that he was actually prevented from attending, it's just that he would be doing a disservice to the members of the group if he did," she said, adding that "if he wanted to discuss the issues with members of the group in another context, that may have been more welcome."
So it is clear that there is nothing stopping Kishan or any other male or white woman from walking in on such a meeting, sitting down and refusing to leave. "I do not, at this time, police the groups who use the WRC with regard to the openness of their meetings," Munafo said. However, if it is truly the case that the members won't feel comfortable with the person there, it is not clear if it is in anybody's interest for that person to go in the first place.
In light of this, Munafo is speaking with Senior Associate Dean of the College Dan Nelson and others about the possibility of rendering certain meetings officially closed to the public. "After all," she said, "there are numerous College-recognized organizations that are closed to the public like Greek houses and senior societies."
But there is a clear distinction to be made -- the distinction between private organizations funded with private money that hold meetings in private spaces and public groups that hold meetings in public spaces maintained with community funds amassed from tuition. "Generically speaking," said Dean Nelson, "the meetings of organizations that take place in College facilities are open to everyone."
There are certain groups, however, that ought to be closed to the public. Groups, such as a sexual-assault peer support group or an alcohol recovery group, simply should not have people off the street attending them out of general interest. Other groups, such as the Young Democrats and the Conservative Union must be open to everyone. So what can be said of groups that want to be restrictive and lack as much of a claim as groups that clearly need to restrict membership, though more than your typical political organization?
"WOC United meetings are not a WRC program. A student group can reserve the space for a meeting," said Munafo. On the issue of the use of such a space, Dean Nelson said that "Students need to ask themselves: Are the needs of a group of students who want to meet in privacy compelling enough to restrict access, especially if they are meeting in a college facility normally open to everyone?"
The answer is that no matter how appealing it may be for a group such as WOC United to close its doors to everyone but women of color, it cannot. It simply does not have the ethical right to stop the rest of the community from witnessing what goes on in its meetings, held in a space designated as open to everyone and paid for with everyone's tuition.
But while traditionally excluded minority groups cannot exclude others without putting themselves in an awkward, ironic situation, that does not mean that everyone should barge in and disrupt their meetings. The community owes something to these groups -- a respect for their desires. We all must consider why we would want to go to such a meeting in the first place and what good it would actually do.
We have the privilege of going to almost any meeting we want to attend, but it is possible to abuse a privilege. It would be better, perhaps, if we let students work out what they feel at these meetings and then engage them in conversations that incorporate our perspectives later. To boorishly attend meetings simply because it is one's right to do so, even though others honestly prefer that you wouldn't, is not the best way to conduct an intellectual transaction at the College, by any means.
