Letters to the Editor
alaina
Published Letters: 12 Editor's Choice: 1
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The Slow Gazelle and the Heard Mentality
[Read the article: Sexual harassment in art school]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I went to art school and even though it is unlikely to be the same one, I know all the characters in this story all too well. Artists are insecure by nature, young artists even more so and putting all these personalities together can get a bit interesting at times.
A woman in my drawing class had all the signs of being vulnerable and troubled, she was terribly shy, wore all black, had body language that seemed to apologize for her mere physical presence and a pained look in her eyes. She was hit on by more than one professor at school. She was pretty but so were many students; they hit on her because they just knew she'd never tell.
I was a student in one class with her and an offending professor and the dynamic between them seemed very charged. It took her over a month to tell me that he was constantly propositioning her. I tried to encourage her to tell the Dean, but it took so much for her to tell me and she made me promise not to tell anyone. She told a few more people and also made them promise not to tell. This professor was rumored to be doing the same thing to other similar students.
Eventually it became the known secret. Everybody knew but nobody would say anything. We had another tenured professor in his fifties that got an eighteen year old student pregnant, my thesis advisor had slept with my closest friend in the same department, one of the painting students was having an affair with the department head and... so many stories, many true.
Many of the college's graduates tended to stay in the city and exhibit there. Meeting other graduates usually meant gossiping about professors, the same professors, doing this for twenty-plus years. One of the professors also checked into the hotel that I worked in with a student and used the school's credit card to pay for the room! I saw him in a bar a few months later and out of the blue, he brought it up just to deny it.
I paid (and am still paying) 60K for my education and these professors were undermining students' educations and the reputation of my school. Going through a BFA or MFA program alone is enough to make some people have nervous breakdowns, and this is really asking for trouble. I did tell the dean about the woman in my class without naming her and several students commented about the behavior on their course evaluations. He was not tenured and was fired. A new president came and a few of the other habitual offenders got a golden handshake. I think and hope it's a saner place now.
Telling is good for the students and the school. The school is responsible for providing a safe environment for students and can even be held liable for a faculty member's sexual harassment of a student. Do not look the other way, because the problem is likely to get worse.
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There is a third option for X'ers
[Read the article: "The Trap"]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I was completely strapped with student loan debt as a new teacher in the Arts. While my parents had no loans, no jobs during college and went to school in the late 60's when almost everybody was an activist. They still expected me to pursue financial success and didn't understand why I couldn't afford to leave my tiny rent controlled studio apartment. After being laid off from my third Art Teacher job, I too thought it was time to go into Corporate America or live in squats with the anarchists in West Philadelphia. Neither option appealed to me and the political climate of the US was suffocating and bankrupting me. It was a false dichotomy, really.
I left to teach in Thailand, which welcomes Americans with degrees and a willingness to teach. On my way out, my liberal friends told me that I was crazy, "Americans just don't live and work overseas, it's dangerous." Now I make more money in USD here than I did in public schools in the US and in a third world country where living expenses are much lower. Many other countries welcome us and most offer a standard of living that is much better than a new teacher's in the US. Friends of mine work in Dubai, Taiwan, Korea, Hong Kong, Malaysia, etc. and we all live well.
While teaching overseas does not look the same as the G7 protesters, it can also be a subversive act. My "American" values about treating women, the poor and people of other faiths and races respectfully are being taught to Thai children who will one day be the ruling class of Thailand. There are many other overseas teachers that teach progressive values, even if only by example.
Here I am in my thirties and I still think that I can change the world, just in small increments over time. And I legally don't pay taxes and the student loans will be deferred, indefinitely, if not forever. I don't know what country I'll live in next, but I'll never live in a tiny studio apartment again.