Civilized Unconformity

It takes a lot of work to be crazy and unpredictable. Too much of one thing, and people say "oh, that again." Case in point: shaving-cream covered naked people running across campus, Sammy the Owl chasing a gorilla, live action role playing costumes, and so many other things are just norms now at Rice.

An easy way to keep from falling into a rut of "normal" craziness is to mix things up a little. What's the most unexpected thing I could do? How about being formal and responsible, and spend the evening listening to a public policy discussion?

With this new project in mind, I selected yet another costume and donned it. Ah yes, the pensive, intellectual college student, fully engaged in the material (complete with clipboard for notes...)

In this "character" I set out for Baker Institute. The speaker for the night was Rev. Jim Wallis, president and CEO of Sojourners. I was indeed breaking some social norms just by being there. Due to the importance of the speaker, and that many students are still taking midterms, I was one of the few undergraduates actually present. I'd estimate that the mean age of everyone in the room was over 45, and I was the only person on my row who was not either grey haired, or balding. (One nice old lady even sat in the seat next to me, looked at my mohawk, then scooted away down the row...)

While I was more of an outlier at the event, I was very glad I did attend. Jim Wallis spent a lot of time discussing connections between social justice and religion, arguing that Christians should be concerned with matters of national poverty. He shared how the injustice of poverty was a cause to be fought for, like slavery in the time of William Wilberforce, or Civil Rights at the time of MLK.

Throughout this, he emphasized how important it was that the new, younger generations be the driving force behind this change. Now there's a crazy thought for you.

So yes, I've been running around doing weird things, trying to break social barriers that inhibit people from expressing their creativity. Maybe those aren't the only walls that need to be broken.

We live in a nation of perceived wealth, yet over 46 million people in this country live under the poverty line. The serverys at Rice have 75 pounds of food waste a day, while there are starving people just a few blocks away (I don't even have to mention Africa). Rice students spend massive amounts of time and money on extravagant parties, while there are populations in Africa suffering from medical problems that students like us could solve with that same investment of time and money (just take a look at the Global Health Technologies classes).

So much more can be changed than just people's perspectives on unconventionality, and I can do more than just entertain people. While I'm still going to attempt many things theatrical and ridiculous, maybe I should be aiming for goals of social justice as well.

Aaand of course, ideally, I just might try to do both at the same time.