Cultural Taboos at Our Campus

How truly multicultural is Alliant International University’s San Francisco Campus? The answer might not be so obvious.

By Dr. Christopher Tori, Winter 2008

While we proudly profess our multicultural credentials, John Peachey’s recent article on political cultural diversity on campus (or the lack thereof) raised some questions about this supposition. Is it possible that we are myopic liberals? No way, might be a reflexive response to this query!

While there are limits to free speech - advocating violence or making patently pejorative remarks are not permitted - are there views that cannot be raised at our campus? What about our silence regarding current social views that are at odds with our progressive values? Like what, you might ask:

Religion and Morality
In my tenure at CSPP/Alliant I never heard of a seminar by a traditional (a euphuism for conservative) religious apologist regarding issues of moral conduct, although this has been an active area of research by psychologists for many decades. Two issues that currently divide the nation concern sexual behavior and abortion. Would those from organizations like DignityUSA (a Roman Catholic GLBT group) who place their faith commitments above their sexual preferences be welcomed at our campus? Should not clinical psychologists be informed about the “lived experience” of these individuals (generalizations to the 160+ million Americans who identify with major faith communities would be possible)? What about the psychology of abortion (both pro and con)?

The Deconstruction of Labels
If you really want to get into trouble, just suggest that race, ethnicity, gender, and sexual orientation are all mere illusions that serve to divided people and perpetrate a psychology that is supportive of racism (i.e. “us and them”). Look out!

Addiction at Our Front Door
Are we able to confront the addictive behavior of cigarette use in front of our institution? What does the literature say about the conditioned reinforcement of drug use? What does our silence do for other’s addictions?

More could be said, but space restrictions do not allow this for the present. What do you think? How truly multicultural is our campus?