Higher education and bawdy behavior

Our November 2 issue will include a focus on higher education, something the Reporter likes to highlight every so often. After all, quite a few colleges out there would never have been founded without the support of the Methodist Church.

We asked Gen-X Rising columnist the Rev. Andrew Thompson, who is currently enrolled in a doctoral program at Duke Divinity School, if he'd be willing to focus on higher education for his Nov. 2 installment. The focus he chose?

Sex on campus.

Andrew shares excerpts from two columns that recently appeared in Duke's student newspaper, The Chronicle, and examines the attitudes toward sex contained therein. "The moral poverty of contemporary campus culture was brought home to me recently when I opened this year's first edition of The Chronicle..." Andrew begins.

Moral poverty... made me think immediately of a certain event at our alma mater. Full disclosure: Andrew and I attended Hendrix College, where our undergraduate experiences overlapped by two years. It's a lovely United Methodist institution in central Arkansas with some unique traditions, like the time-honored Shirttails Serenades:

My nephew is on the front row! That is, when he's not crawling underneath some other guy's legs, or worse.

My first thought, "I hope nobody in this video plans on running for public office," was quickly followed by others such as, "I was in the front row back in the early '90s," "I'm so glad we didn't have YouTube," "From what I've heard, it started out as a cute tradition, but that's not what it is any more," and finally, "I don't guess it was cute when I did it, either."

Back then I saw it as innocent fun. Now it seems far less innocent.

I hear that the College is now looking at seriously reforming this event, or even withdrawing all support. As much as I would've protested such a move in my student days, I see things a little differently now.

So, Hendrix faculty and administration, whatever you need to do with Shirttails Serenades, I understand.

Just don't bring back football.

Comments

[Spencer]

I am, of course, stunned to discover that this tradition was never mentioned when Hendricks representatives visited with our congregation :-)

Thanks for sharing. I'm glad I was pre-YouTube, too.

Spencer