As I walked up the front stairs of Van Meter on Friday February 14th, 2025, I took in the many beautiful rainbows that naturally form there. Some were faded, others bright and proud. Some were broken, some solid. Most were small, but a few were larger.
I was inspired.
I have seen these rainbows before, but never so many. The experience has made me reflect on the current social climate, and Goucher’s future.
Does Goucher live up to its claims of diversity and inclusion? Do I create spaces for people to be themselves? Will President Kent Deveraux’s administration protect the most vulnerable of our community from the malicious attacks of the current President of the United States of America and his supporters?
I am not sure of the answers to these questions.
On Wednesday, President Kent reassured students on campus with his comments to the Student Government Association(SGA) general assembly(GA). The office of Equity & Inclusive Excellence (EIE) also sent out a supportive message on Friday February 14, 2025, but in these chaotic times, it didn’t instill confidence in me.
As a Private Liberal Arts College in Maryland, we are more insular than other colleges, but approximately 5 million dollars of our 70 million dollar budget comes from the Federal Government, according to President Kent. In less than two weeks, SGA will host Chief Financial Officer Brian Hutzley during its GA where I expect interesting questions from the members of SGA and the students who join us.
To get away from the crisis, and focus on the philosophical, what does it mean to be inclusive and diverse? How can we strengthen our community? Should we prioritize DEI (or EIE or whatever other acronym we want to use)?
How do we create a community that values freedom of speech, where everyone feels welcome to voice their mind? I’ve asked a version of this to visiting speaker/Journalist Moustafa Bayoumi, Dean Smith, my peers, and a few other people. I have yet to receive a conclusive answer, and the answers I have gotten only inspired more questions and thoughts.
During an interview with the Vice President for Enrollment Dr. Mike Marshall and Associate Vice President for Enrollment Tania Rachkoskie last fall, it was mentioned that Goucher Admissions is working on submitting its information to the Campus Pride Index. At the time of writing this article, Goucher is still not listed in the Campus Pride Index. But Towson University is there.
On February 14th, 2025, four small Pride Flags were stuck in the snow next to Van Meter Highway. One of my neighbors had a Trump Flag in their window. How do we allow free speech and prevent hate speech? Some of my peers have told me they believed some recent posters fell conclusively on one side of this.
In comparison, the various (stickered-on) flags of nations in the Hyman forum received praise from other visiting SGAs during the Student Governance Summit. Advertising our growing diversity is good for our reputation among those who Goucher really needs to woo: student leaders who will become “global changemakers.”
Diversity, both visible and invisible, is a strength of America, Maryland, and Goucher. How can we let this beauty shine through?
To our artists, physicists, and architects, how can we incorporate light and rainbows into our campus and any structure we design? To those who will take part in designing Goucher’s future, I ask you to use stone in buildings and incorporate rainbows in an intelligent way.
I want more rainbows.
By Max R., ’28
