It is spring and many have rushed and more still have pledged their time, energy, and a great deal of money to particular organizations. Classification has become so natural to us that we willingly band ourselves together into cliques to make such a process easier without ever asking why. We adorn ourselves with sweatshirts claiming that we are a critically thinking university, yet we never question the inner workings behind the events around us, and the part we play in perpetuating them.
Why do so many of our young men and women willingly align themselves to groups that have no defined purpose? Why does an institution of such caliber have bands of people parading themselves under such pseudonyms as “pretty girls” and “sporty girls” in assorted colors, transforming this campus into a mini tribal society.
Tribal societies never end well. Think of the conflicts in Rwanda/Burundi or between Serbs and Croatians. These were people who looked exactly alike yet chose to divide themselves along lines that most Westerners would find ludicrous. Never mind the fact that we make similar distinctions without questioning why we feel the need to do so. Indeed, it is because we refuse to question ourselves that so many blindly walk down these multi-colored pathways.
I say blindly, because it is a rare case when one can find a seasoned veteran or one of the newly converted who can give clear reasons as to why they embarked on this journey in the first place.
However, if these organizations do indeed allow some within our midst to fulfill goals that they cannot achieve on their own, I dare say that all this division does more harm than good. None would disagree when Martin Luther said that we are all caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny.
If it is indeed lasting change that we desire as a reward for our service, it will not happen by chance. Lasting change can only be effected by a group of determined individuals, united by a common purpose, which is clearly delineated. If service to all of mankind is indeed our aim, why, then, should we feel the need to exclude others from the process either on the basis of race, sex or lack of the necessary financial resources.
So too, if some organizations cater to the Epicureans at heart-people who will forever be more excited by the thought of young pledges giving lap dances than finding some way to help abused children should band together and have one big orgy every now and then and be done with it. Think of how much further each of these groups with common purposes would go if they were united. They could charge the same amount of fees and contribute more to the surrounding communities, or consume not only beer but their choice of fine liquor at their frequent orgies.
If we believe that as long as our minds are enslaved then we are not truly free, then we must shake off the colors that enslave us and embrace each other as a true community. Thinking not only of what drives us as individuals but of more effective ways to achieve the greater goods we all desire.
