Paying To Value The Differences In American Society

There's a Steiner cartoon in last week's Weekly Standard that I can't find on-line. It shows a professorial sort talking to a mom, dad and incoming college student. The professor's dialog balloon:

At Yale we regard the dormitory experience as essential. It teaches students how to get along in an amoral and dissolute society.

The reality of this hit home today when I was looking at Incredible Daughter #1's fall schedule for her Junior year at Chapman University, a great school right here in the heart of conservative OC, and there it was:

HMDV-300-01 (00274) Valuing Differences in Am Soc

Here's the email chain that followed. First, me to ID #1:

Looks good – but I really can’t believe we have to pay for you to take a course called “valuing differences in American society.” It sounds like multi-culti brainwashing; I value assimilation into the American culture more than continuing divisive differences. Put on your native clothing once a year and dance your native dances, then go back to baseball, apple pie and the red, white and blue.

She to me:

It fulfills some intercommunication pre req or something. I don’t remember right now what my other choices were, but this one had the best time, and still had seats available. ... Some of the classes I was trying to get had only 2 or 3 seats left. Beggars can’t be choosers. Besides, I have a degree in Environmental Science, you really think a multi-cultural class is going to brainwash me? I have 4 years of multi-cultural education under my belt as well.

Me to she:

“Beggers can’t be choosers.” I think you do need some multi-culti brainwashing after all. Beggars are people too, and they certainly can be choosers, just like all of us.

I've learned to wait and see; sometimes things aren't as bad as you think they'll be. Perhaps a part of this course will be careful analysis of the benefits of fitting in vs. the liabilities of refusing to do so. But I expect I'll be disappointed on that count.