I walked into the campus center on Monday, and something I saw there shocked me.
I strolled into the lower level, and I noticed that every single Mirror that had been on the newspaper stand there last Thursday had vanished! The only thing was left to say was “Wow! I had no idea prospective students and their parents or guardians would love The Mirror so much!”
As you may or may not know, last Saturday was “Preview Day” (or whatever they call it, I’m not sure and I’m too lazy to check) here at Fairfield. Several hundred prospective students and their families come to Fairfield on this day every year to check out the school, and decide whether they want to matriculate here.
And these visitors must have absolutely loved The Mirror! I quickly paced my way through the rest of the campus center, and nary a Mirror could be found!
Now, cynics amongst us might offer a different interpretation. That is, they would assume that certain members of the school’s administration would not like prospective students and their families to see The Mirror. Why would they want to keep these families in the dark? Who knows. But what is certain is when an authority attempts to squash viewpoints other than its own, for whatever reason, it is totalitarianism plain and simple.
Just as Voltaire’s maxim warned “It is dangerous to be right in matters on which the established authorities are wrong”, these skeptics would argue that the administration of this school attempts to exercise quasi-Stalinist control over matters of information.
But of course these naysayers are wrong! They are just hand-wringing conspiracy theorists who think the administration is out to get us. Of course the administration of Fairfield University loves The Mirror, and appreciate all the work we do within the university community.
This whole episode reminds me of the time I first learned to ride a bike. I still remember that balmy spring day when I rode freely, without training wheels, up and down my driveway for the first time. With my family at my side roaring with approval, I rejoiced at the fact that I would never get another scrape or scuff on my leg because of a messy bike accident.
Or so I thought! Years later, with everyone in my family at my older brother’s middle school graduation, I was riding my bike around my neighborhood and fell victim to a bad wipeout. With skin missing from my knee and leg, I couldn’t admit that I had snuck out of the house to ride my bike. So for the next four weeks of one sweltering summer, I wore nothing but pants. Needless to say, my parents never caught on.
Leave a Reply