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Part One:
We speak with Valerie Endress, Professor of Political Communication at Rhode Island College, about a little-known fact about elite colleges. In addition to admitting a disproportionately large number of students who come from backgrounds of privilege, the campuses also give extra perks and privileges to those very same students. At Brown University, we recently learned that a wealthy donor has been subsidizing special dinners, where an elite group of students are invited to dine and network with business executives and others who have “connections.” Brown refused to listen to complaints from other students, but after the facts became public, Brown ceased its policy of providing support for these special dinners. Is higher education still “the great equalizer,” or just another opportunity for the rich to get richer?
Part Two:
We talk with Lisa Leopold, Associate Professor of English Language Studies at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey, about what makes for an effective apology in our culture. She cites three ingredients: (1) actually saying we’re sorry, and specifically naming what we’re apoligizing for (“my” transgression x); (2) taking personal responsibility (“I did x”; “I was wrong”); and (3) recognizing and expressing empathy for those whom we’ve hurt.
All of us make mistakes. We don’t have to let those mistakes define who we are as human beings. We can use such moments as an opportunity to reframe who we are and move forward to living a more compassionate life. When faced with a choice of which action to take, we can look inside our hearts and focus more on how our choice will affect other people. Then we can “do the right thing”: make choices that will do more good and cause less pain.
