Brown is a place that markets itself on its individualism. This school has no core requirements and strives to accept people who forge their own paths through their academic and personal lives. This is great. It makes for a truly interesting atmosphere, where one feels surrounded by vastly different and incredibly entertaining people. When I applied, one of my friends — then a first-year — said that at Brown, there would be a good chance I would meet someone who is the best in the world at something, even if it's hacky sack. This drew me to Brown and set it apart from other schools. Is there a possibility that individualism can be taken too far though? What are the limits of this culture, and does Brown suffer by existing as it does?
Individualism in and of itself can be a virtue. We need more people in this world who think for themselves and stand up for what they believe in. Look at the Republican presidential race, for instance. There you have four candidates who stand up in front of millions of people and tell them exactly what they want to hear — for example, that radical Muslims attacked us on 9/11 because we stand for American exceptionalism. Ron Paul, on the other hand, elicits boos when he suggests that perhaps our previous affairs in the Middle East provoked the attacks. In one comical exchange, Paul was chastised for implying that our foreign policy should look more like the "golden rule" — an ironic reaction from a party that touts its Christian morals.
This is great. Paul is a hero for libertarians and young intellectuals everywhere — Bradley Silverman '13 notwithstanding ("Ron Paul is not a libertarian," Feb. 27). In fact, Paul's economic policies are the only ones on the table that would reduce the deficit. So why is he not the Republican front-runner? Well, for starters, he is unwilling to compromise. His ideals make him a martyr for his cause, but his obsession with abolishing the Federal Reserve overshadows his reasonable policies. What's off-putting about Paul is that he doesn't understand that compromising in order to achieve greater societal goals is paramount to problem solving and negotiating.
So, too, at Brown does our individualism have the potential to alienate. GQ once accused us of being the "douchiest school in America," telling Brown students that 10 years after graduating, you will be "living with your family in an old house that you quit your job to refurbish yourself — by overseeing a contractor — with painstaking historical accuracy in a formerly decaying section of the city that's recently been reclaimed by a small population of white guys in hand-painted T-shirts who are helping you put together a health care fund-raiser for MoveOn.org." This paints a picture of Brown as filled with stereotypical hipsters, but more importantly it implies that Brown is filled with free-spirited counter-cultural students.
I would personally love to be this douche, but the mention of us as number one on this list is rather troubling. It implies that our mentality of individualism and rejecting the status quo is somewhat of an anomaly and is antithetical to the views of many in our country. As future leaders we should be wary of assuming that unhampered individualism is always ideal. In fact it could make us bad at relating with others. Even relating to fellow Brown students can be an issue.
Universities have many traditions that drive student life and culture. We have Spring Weekend and organ concerts. Brown rarely rallies behind a sporting event, and Spring Weekend is the only time that we assemble in large numbers. Brown appealed to me, and probably to many of you, because it seemed to bridge the gap between small liberal arts schools and research universities. Brown, however, seems just large enough that we never all gather for community events and just small enough that we lack the funding for programs that larger schools flaunt. Some people say that we lack a cohesive school-spirit. This may be why.
It might be hard to build school spirit at a place that brings together a bunch of people whose most unifying trait is their individualism. However, communities are just as important for personal development.
I encourage you all to go to sports games, see a play or just spend time on campus. It was discouraging to the see the number of people that left for the long weekend in February. The weather was pleasant here, and I expected Brown to flourish with life and spirit on such a short break. Instead, it looked like a ghost town.
Building commonality among strangers begins by reevaluating our own identity. Individualism is a great ideal, but without the context of a community it is folly. Maybe it is time for us to ask what we can do for Brown and not what Brown can do for us. Kids here take themselves very seriously, for better or for worse. I wouldn't have it any other way or go to any other school. But perhaps it is time that we take a collective chill pill and enjoy supporting our fellow students.
Lucas Husted '13 loves being a Brown douche and loves Ron Paul, too. He can be reached at lucas_husted@brown.edu.
