Evidently more than a few people didn’t catch Greensboro resident Ed Philpott’s sarcasm in his recent letter to the editor “attacking” the Tea Party.
I’m not the brightest guy in the world, but I did happen to catch Philpott’s sarcasm. However, I had to read this LTE in today’s paper a couple of times to make sure the writer was serious:
Dorm. Imagine my shock in seeing such a dirty word printed on the front page (Aug. 18).
As student affairs professionals working in residence life, I and my colleagues, both at my institution and others across the country, work very hard to educate our students that “dorm” is an antiquated term that represents nothing more than a place to sleep and store belongings.
Our students live in residence halls —living, learning communities that are classroom extensions providing guidance for social interaction, educational and cultural programming, and a large amount of care and support for students. While the “D-word” may seem synonymous in appearance and close in definition, don’t let that fool you. The meaning is vastly different and, frankly, offensive to people like me who have made students as much “my business” as faculty across campus.
Please help me educate our society on the importance of resisting the use of this dirty word, thus garnering respect for the residential process and a group of professionals who work incredibly hard at helping provide your children with the best university experiences possible.
Alison Whitcomb
Winston-Salem
Far as I can tell, she’s dead serious. Then I guess Hell Dorm— where I spent my college years — is totally out of the question.
