No Good Deed Goes Unpunished

Last month, the social studies student teachers in the OleMiss School of Education participated in two service learning opportunities.  On April 7, a dozen student teachers helped place over 2,000 luminaries at the 150th commemoration of the Battle of Shiloh.  We set nearly 10 percent of the 23,746 luminaries -- all at the Bloody Pond, the Peach Orchard, and Wicker Field.  The video is in the link above -- 1:32-1:45 are our candles!

The following week - on April 13, 2012 - the secondary social studies student teachers and volunteers from the Department of Religion and Philosophy helped organize a World Religions Day for 100 seventh graders from Oxford Middle School. 

In the last issue of the Daily Mississippian - above the fold on the front page - this is what ran today... What is World Religion

Here is my letter to the editor:

Dear Ms. Nassar and Mr. Madden:

I am writing in reference to this morning’s final edition of The Daily Mississippian and your choice to run an inflammatory piece on the first Oxford Middle School – OleMiss World Religions Day.

Instead of a piece that highlighted all of the good things done by Dr. Thurlkill, Dr. Simmons, and Mrs. Douglas; you ran an article that focused on one tiny portion of the day. 

I was with Dr. Thurlkill and Mrs. Douglas when they approached Ms. Johnston about the reservations that would arise if she were to speak.  I heard both of their sincere apologies.  I could see the hurt in Ms. Johnston’s face, but she accepted our apologies and said she understood the situation.  Mrs. Johnston said she had family that still did not understand or appreciate her religious preference.

What your article left out was that local seventh graders were introduced to sacred music, sacred architecture, sacred food, sandpainting, and yoga.  Seniors from the UM-School of Education and volunteers from the Department of Religion and Philosophy created presentations that helped to break down barriers which is crucial to understanding those with different beliefs. 

The day also provided the UM-SOE student teachers with valuable experience in understanding the importance of hands-on, relevant teaching/learning activities in the secondary classroom.  They also came to appreciate the importance of a balanced presentation of belief systems in the social studies curriculum.

While Ms. Johnston was not able to join the conversation this year, both Dr. Thurlkill and Mrs. Douglas expressed their desire to include more religions in the future.  I sincerely hope that the work that Thurlkill and Douglas have done over the past five years to help middle schoolers and college students learn more about the “other” and build a more inclusive community is stronger than the damage your hostile piece will do in a day.

I was honored that Thurlkill and Douglas asked the UM-SOE social studies student teachers to participate in the first World Religions Day.  If we are allowed to organize the event again, perhaps the DM will show more balanced coverage regarding the teaching of diverse religious perspectives and how the university is building relationships with the broader community and investing in the lives of a truly multicultural and tolerant Mississippi.

Sincerely,

ellen j foster, ph.d.

Here is the response I received:

Dr. Foster,

I apologize for not being available this morning when you called the Student Media Center. I understand that you were hoping to speak to Cain Madden; however, I am the new editor-in-chief and am responsible.

I understand your concerns with the World Religion Day article in today's DM. There were several news meetings surrounding this story, and a lot of reporting, editing and rewriting went into it before it ran. My staff and I believe the story was fair and balanced.

While we will not print the DM again until the end of May, if you would like to submit your email as a Letter to the Editor, I will publish it on theDMonilne.com. Also, if you would like to speak to me further about your concerns, I would be happy to set up a time to talk to you.

Sincerely,

Emily Roland

And my reply to Ms. Roland:

Ms. Roland:

I would be more than willing for you to include the letter in the next issue of the paper and/or the DMOnline

As for balanced, I’m not sure how you define balanced.  Your reporter did not attempt to get the full story – Ms. Johnston was given an apology – three of them!  Your reporter did not even get to the true story of why Dr. Thurlkill and Mrs. Douglas developed the concept of a World Religions Day – why such an event was necessary in the first place.

By placing the story on the front page of the last issue of the semester, you and your staff showed tremendous disrespect for all of the work that our faculty, staff, and students have done to help break stereotypes and present a balanced view of world belief systems and their role in the social studies.  You didn’t have any one reporting on the highlights of the day – 100 seventh graders doing yoga in the Grove, sampling a seder plate in Bryant Hall, creating sandpaintings in the Union, or learning more about religious symbols in Paris-Yates Chapel.

No, your choice to run the article on the front page, above the fold, in the last issue of the year was nothing more than yellow journalism.  I am sincerely disappointed in the DM.

Respectfully,

ejf

I sincerely hope that all of the good things that "my" social studies student teachers worked so hard to achieve this semester have not been undone by the narrow focus of one reporter's interpretation of their work.