Brown University Kills 'Columbus Day' for 'Fall Weekend'
We read:
"Fall Weekend" will be taking the place of the holiday formerly known as "Columbus Day" at Brown University this fall.
The faculty of the Ivy League university voted at a meeting Tuesday to establish a new academic and administrative holiday in October called "Fall Weekend" that coincides with Columbus Day, but that doesn't bear the name of the explorer.
Hundreds of Brown students had asked the Providence, R.I. school to stop observing Columbus Day, saying Christopher Columbus's violent treatment of Native Americans he encountered was inconsistent with Brown's values.
"I'm very pleased," Reiko Koyama, a sophomore who led the effort, told the student newspaper, the Brown Daily Herald. "It's been a long time coming."
The change will take effect this fall.
Although the students had asked the school to take another day off instead, Brown will remain closed on Columbus Day, in part to avoid inconveniencing staff whose children might have the holiday off, the Daily Herald reported.
Many other colleges are open on Columbus Day but give students short breaks later in the semester.
Last month a Brown Daily Herald poll found two-thirds of the students supported changing the holiday's name to Fall Weekend, the newspaper reported.
Source
12 comments:
Will Brown stop celebrating MLK Jr. Day since marital infidelity is presumed "inconsistent with Brown's values"?
Good point Anonymous.
But first, this story needs a minor correction: They were never Native Americans, but American Indians, since they allegedly came across a land bridge.
Now then, whether or not Columbus mistreated the Indians is something that should be taught. However, it should not take away how he made the new land he discovered known greatly to the rest of the world.
Also, it is not fair to place today's ethical codes on historical figures. At that time, the majority of the people did not even consider of treating others equally. It was truly a foreign concept. Was it wrong? Sure it was, but they simply did not know any better.
And that certainly goes to the American Indians, who were known to scalpel, enslave or eat other Indians from different tribes. And, of course, the white man.
No matter the skin color or religion, many people were cruel to others and their own kind. It's important to recognize that, just as it is important to recognize the discoveries and accomplishments made by all.
Too bad Brown students haven't learned that. And it's really too bad that Brown hasn't taught that important lesson to its students.
If it wasn't for Columbus this country would be nothing but useless wilderness.
Brown University should change its name, the man who funded the founding of the school and who it is named after made money off the slave trade.
"a Brown Daily Herald poll found two-thirds of the students supported changing the holiday's name to Fall Weekend, the newspaper reported."
Naturally.
Those Liberal, spoiled twits who attend this prestegious institution could care less about history. After all History is..... well history.
Thank goodness President Obama will eventually come to their aid and proclaim (Like the Europeans) that all holidays be re-designated Bank Holidays.
Such a benign description would eliminate the dreaded linking of a specific day with an individual whose past exploits don't fit into a Liberal agenda.
As a matter of fact instead of "bank holiday" the days could be named after specific banks or financial institutions. You know like the ones the taxpayer is currently bailing out.
Like: Wachovia Day
Or
A.I.G. Day
Columbus never even set foot on the continental Americas, he didn't get much further than Hispaniola (now the Dominican Republic, one of the nastiest places on the planet outside of sub-Saharan Africa).
7:33 PM- AND the name Brown could be considered racist, by golly!
"Brown University should change its name, the man who funded the founding of the school and who it is named after made money off the slave trade."
Very good comment, but I doubt that would happen. Despite everything, even liberals who sit on the board of Brown U. would realize they might lose a good bit of money because the school is so well known.
"Columbus never even set foot on the continental Americas,"
---Actually, he did.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_Columbus#Fourth_voyage
How long will we be able to say Holiday? Since Holiday is just another way of saying Holyday!
Mobius
Back in the 90's the state college in California I attended did away with Columbus Day and made it Gay and Lesbian Awareness Day. It was no longer a holiday but a campus wide celebration day. I just shook my head wondering how they planned on having an awareness day if Columbus had never made his discovery.
If you look past the sanitized version of history at Columbus you'll see he was a petty tyrant at heart and despised by those under him. He was also a slaver at heart and after the first voyage his subsequent voyages had slave taking as a major goal.
His big accomplishment is in making widely known something that was already somewhat known but little regarded.
Columbus was not a great man and doesn't really deserve a day in his honor.
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