Addressing Aversions to Ancient Aliens

by
Image Source: Jimy Kuhn

Earlier this semester, Goucher announced a partnership with our neighbors at Edenwald senior living, with the intent to construct an Undergraduate Retirement Community (URC) on leased Goucher land.  In this edition, we have a wonderful piece discussing the nuts and bolts of this partnership, but here I would like to discuss the multiple opinions surrounding this development. 

Many students’ initial reaction to this partnership is not positive. This partially comes from the several concerns revolving around allowing the older generation into our community and our classrooms. Many current students, for example, want to know how prospective Edenwald students will be prepared to enter our existing community, especially regarding respect to our queer students and students of color. Qualms in this realm have concrete solutions: There are plans to have a multi-day orientation teaching these prospective students about our community values and informing them of the inclusivity of the modern age. Importantly, there will be a focus on pronoun usage and respect toward marginalized people, while also teaching more ordinary things, like how to use Canvas. 

The other cause for this negative perspective comes from a tendency of staunch ageism in our current age. Some of this comes from a place of validity; members of our queer community, for example, are concerned due to the fact that the older generation has been historically unaccepting of their identities.  Outside of Goucher, queer people still need to fight to find their space and to be seen, but here at Goucher these students feel able to be seen and to belong. It is true that the older generation is, in certain sects, unaccepting of the queer community, but these will not be the people we are inviting onto this campus.  However, in the same stroke, if we treat these people like the villains we perceive them to be, that is exactly what they will become. I would ask readers to reframe their thoughts and give these people a chance to prove us wrong. 

This construction begs the question why. Why is Goucher doing this? How can the powers that be focus on performing an experiment in academia when community is dying on this campus? Putting efforts towards this partnership for people who are currently outside of our community ought to come after we are able to address the concerns of the people who are currently here. How can we find the time and effort to spend on a URC, the first one in all of Maryland, but not be able to have Alice’s Cafe open? If the logic states that we cannot focus on community because we lack money and we are focusing on the URC because it makes us money, how can we ensure that the money Goucher earns is spent on the community?  This seems to be another case of Goucher having a blind spot towards the needs of our community, and because they do not see us, they just look away. 

By Jimy Kuhn, ’27

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