Do We Need a Calamity in Order to C*RE?

Our social system at GBC is designed, in part, by well-meaning attorneys. If one expresses concern for someone's progress, or for their happiness, that concern is misinterpreted, shaken, reconstituted, and recreated as something "inappropriate" or "unprofessional." Therefore, we are all made aware that "care" is a dirty word. Telling a student or coworker that you care leaves both you and the institution wide open for a gaggle of lawsuits.

Sometimes, what someone really needs is a hug. A hug can save the day...truly. However, the willy-nilly dispensation of hugs is misinterpreted, shaken, reconstituted, and recreated as an inappropriate display of affection. If you hug a coworker frequently enough, the gossip mill will churn out stories of the most shocking variety -- and here comes that lawsuit again.

Consequently, we work in a society in which it is best not to care. Keep your head down, and keep your emotions in check. The pure "T" -- the thinker -- is the smartest hire for any position. The system virtually requires the hire of employees who will stare blankly as others fail or go through trials. Getting others to demonstrate care toward others is more difficult than putting a camel through the eye of a needle (or getting a wealthy person into heaven, if I follow the analogy).

Recently, however, there was a certain calamity, and in the wake of that calamity, the lawyers have turned the other way. Suddenly, everyone must care. Suddenly there is an outpouring of positive emotion of a magnitude unseen since the colonials won the revolution and secured the right to low-cost tea. Hugs, smiles, and tears have become abundant. It may not be politically correct to care, but we have stopped being concerned about what is socially acceptable. We CARE.

Will it take another calamity, or will we be able to take this genuine emotional event into our daily lives? It would be terrific if the college could be transformed by this shared experience. Let us go forth and delight in one another, worry about one another, and care for one another and give up challenging one another, envying one another, and ignoring one another. Let us become known as "the college where we care about YOU." I continue to dream.