Being a Gentleman: A Critique of Sax’s Words on Wabash
It was a typical day of class on November 5, 2007. The only difference was sitting to my left in Calculus 111. It is not the particular class that is important, but the person sitting to my left was someone I had been anticipating to meet. The man, Dr. Leonard Sax, sat behind a desk just like the students in the class. He had his professional leather bag, and he stayed attentive for the entirety of the class. He was an observer of an all male classroom.
Sax has an M.D. and Ph. D. in psychology. He has written two books on single sex education, and he is a family health doctor. He came to Wabash College to speak about single sex education, or at least that was what he was supposed to speak about. “I thought he was going to be helping us explain to ourselves why we should be a men’s college,” said Dr. Mark Brouwer. “I think he utterly failed.”
Instead, Sax lectured on biological differences between the learning styles of males and females. Those differences are the reasons that he supports single sex education. He does not at all favor one sex over the other but instead wants what he thinks is best for education. He did not take seriously the reasons why Wabash College is an all male institution and has remained that way for over 175 years. There is obviously something special about the College, and Sax overlooked that during his visit to Wabash College. Instead, he spent his time relaying his biological reasoning for single sex classrooms and preached that education should embrace gender differences.
The student body of Wabash College was invited to attend a student reading group that met weekly. Led by senior Josh Bellis, the group read a chapter out of either of Sax’s books on a weekly basis and met to discuss how Sax’s books relate to Wabash College. The group met leading up to Sax’s arrival on campus, and then had the opportunity to have lunch with Sax when he was on campus. After Dr. Sax’s visit, they met one last time and came to one basic conclusion. Sax brought information with him, but in terms of reaching the group’s goal of relating his work to Wabash College, Dr. Sax’s visit was useless.
During the lunch, Sax made a comment on how many of the students at Wabash College wore their school’s t-shirts and the students seemed focused on their academics, or at least more so at Wabash that at other institutions. This was the only sign that I saw that Sax was trying to see what Wabash College is about. This is not to say that Sax’s visit was entirely useless, but it certainly was with regards to reaching the student reading group’s goal. Of course he probably sold a couple of his books and succeeded as a salesman, but he did not sell the group as a whole on his material.
Soon after Sax departed from Wabash College, he was interviewed on Minnesota Public Radio. The interview in its entirety can be heard at http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2007/11/28/midmorning2/. By skipping ahead to 26 minutes and 30 seconds, one will hear the words that many students at Wabash College have claimed to be offensive.
“I was at Wabash College in Crawfordsvill,e Indiana, two weeks ago and asked the young men there what does the word ‘gentlemen’ means to you… mean to you? And the first answer, the most overwhelmingly common answer was ‘a gentlemen is someone who goes to gentlemen’s clubs and watches women take off their clothes.’ And they’re not joking that’s what… that’s the most common way that word is used. Forty years ago if you said to a boy ‘be a man’ he knew what that meant.”
After another typical Wabash College e-mail discussion, I felt it was time to think Sax’s comments through. I believe that something to his research has truth to it, and I felt it was wrong for Sax to lose all credibility from Wabash College over one comment he made over public radio. I e-mailed Sax and asked if he would please explain himself. He did not respond which might be another sign of his failure to associate with Wabash. Regardless, there is something to Sax’s comment that needs to be examined whether he will address it or not.
The first time someone hears these words from Sax, it sounds like he is attacking men at Wabash College as being a bad representative of a gentleman. After many discussions with students at Wabash College about the definition of a gentleman, I have realized that it is very unlikely that this comment was truly quoted from a Wabash student. I had to give Sax the benefit of the doubt and submit to the fact that a student at Wabash College could have made the comment that, “a gentleman is someone who goes to gentlemen’s clubs and watches women take off their clothes.” After all, I would hope that he would follow the principle behind the Gentleman’s Rule and not make a false quote.
Under this assumption, of course, I hoped that this was in a joking manner. In looking at the rest of Sax’s comment, one will see that he does not mention that he was at an all male institution. He also, if one takes the time to listen to more of the radio show, spends time leading up to this comment that popular culture shows men as slackers and thugs. Here is the real problem with Sax’s comment. As mentioned earlier, Sax supports single sex education. If this is the case, then why would he mention that Wabash men, an all male school, have fallen down to the level of popular culture?
Whether he meant it or not, it is obvious that Wabash College does not fall into the abyss of popular culture, where Sax could arguably be falling towards. After all, Sax loosely used the word gentleman in trying to make a point for himself. Not only was it selfish and thoughtless, but it demonstrates that he does not understand the meaning that the word “gentleman” holds. It is obvious that the residents of Wabash College value the word “gentleman” more than Sax simply by observing their reaction to Sax’s interview. The students obviously know what it means to be a gentleman, even if they do not always show it on and off campus.
Sax’s comment is a true comment if the words Wabash College are taken out and a co-ed college of choice is inserted. Wabash men know how to describe a gentleman. Since we are all gentlemen, I think we should act like it when talking about Sax.
Of course Sax’s comment makes Wabash College look poorly. Knowing that it had to be a mistake, unless Sax really does not believe in single sex education in which case he is wasting time and money, I urge every student at Wabash College to keep their minds open to Sax’s research. He might just be days away from proving to the country that Wabash men are not antiquated fools for choosing a college without girls. However, if your reputation has been ruined by a comment by one man, then prove him wrong and show the world the type of gentlemen that attends Wabash College.
It becomes very difficult to stand up against Sax and claim that Wabash men know what it means to be a gentleman when my inbox is clogged with emails about obscene vandalisms or I see holes kicked into someone’s artwork. It is time for Wabash men to stop talking about being gentlemen and to start showing that they are gentlemen. Remember, actions speak louder than words. It is possible Sax saw this schools actions rather than listening to their words.
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