Doing the Right Thing

A few days ago was the 40th anniversary of the Duke University Allen Building takeover in which a substantial group of black students at Duke took over the main administrative building on campus, as a demand for university action in securing rights and equality for black students. (You can read more specific details of the event in the linked article).

The point I want to make in mentioning this incident is not that these students were doing the right thing (though what they did was both impressive and admirable). I may be beating a dead horse about the issue, but something like that just wouldn’t happen today (and because of a lack of issues that desperately require change).

I get the impression that the vast majority of people (especially college students) would not dare do something like this. Why? They might get arrested, they might be suspended from school, it might go on some mythical “permanent record,” and this is unacceptable because it might hurt their chances at getting into the right medical school, getting the right job, or whatever. I’m quite unsure as to whether I could do such a thing (though I don’t currently feel the need to). This generation has a very selfish (or at lest self-preservation) focus, which may preclude us from doing what is necessary in some cases.

I don’t think I’ve yet faced a situation in which I’ve had to decide between doing the right thing and protecting my “resume future,” and I’m thankful for that. But it bears consideration; do you have the courage, the willingness to sacrifice, to do what is right or necessary? How would you go about making such a decision, especially if that decision must be made quickly?

-III