2008 Woodie Awards
Marching to another beat
Graduation ceremony songs lyrics offensive and insensitive
By: William Blond
Issue date: 1/7/08 Section: Voices
By William Blond
December 2007 graduate
I recently graduated in December, and I was greatly disturbed by the song CMU expected graduates to sing during the ceremony. "Alma Mater, Hear Us Now" by Ruth Mavis contains highly offensive lyrics.
To sing "hear us now" to CMU, and "ever more we praise thee" is reminiscent of a prayer. However, we find this prayer offered up not to a god, but to the Alma Mater, a "sacred vow ever to defend" the university. The word "sacred" is an inherently religious word, and so its use to describe my commitment to Central is at best inappropriate.
Some may argue that I am reading into this - granted, many religious fanatics do read into material as if searching for something to be offended by - but when a song calls CMU the "Mighty Mother, Queen of Earth eternal," or goes so far as to say the university is the "Precious emblem of our lives Supreme," I must dissent. "Mighty," "supreme," and "eternal" are strong, strong words that are applied to God, Allah or Jesus Christ by their respective worshippers. Yet CMU is no god; it is a flawed, human organization, certainly not "glorified" or "ever symbolizing truth."
By itself, the word "ever" implies immortality, as if now and forever CMU stands as a beacon of honor and virtue. I'm grateful to Central for my degree, but not enough to defy it.
Still others may say these are only words, but again I must disagree. These words are spiritually charged, and yet they are used on a strictly secular occasion. Why is this so? This same university educates students to avoid using "gay" and "retarded" as insults, claiming those words are charged. This same university "find(s) nothing insignificant" about four nooses left in a classroom, maintaining that nooses cannot be separated from the context of lynching and black oppression. Well "sacred," "glorified" and "eternal" have a religious context, and yet this same university very carelessly uses those words to exalt itself like a god. You have offended me, CMU. You have offended me with your lack of understanding and tact, and your blatant show of hypocrisy and double standards.
Perhaps I am not a conventional minority. Perhaps I do not have a learning disability, an alternative lifestyle or a history of slavery in my genealogy, but that does not make CMU's disregard for my strongly-held religious beliefs any less insensitive.
Though singing "Alma Mater, Hear Us Now" has been a tradition for many years, I will remind the administration that tradition has been used to justify slavery, Jim Crow and depriving women the right to vote. While my situation is not nearly as severe, my point remains clear: Tradition alone is no excuse. Simply because the Alma Mater has been sung for a long time does not justify its contents.
If CMU's administration truly values cultural sensitivity and respect, then they will select a song without such charged and religious language. If not, they contradict themselves, perpetuating the very actions they condemn.
December 2007 graduate
I recently graduated in December, and I was greatly disturbed by the song CMU expected graduates to sing during the ceremony. "Alma Mater, Hear Us Now" by Ruth Mavis contains highly offensive lyrics.
To sing "hear us now" to CMU, and "ever more we praise thee" is reminiscent of a prayer. However, we find this prayer offered up not to a god, but to the Alma Mater, a "sacred vow ever to defend" the university. The word "sacred" is an inherently religious word, and so its use to describe my commitment to Central is at best inappropriate.
Some may argue that I am reading into this - granted, many religious fanatics do read into material as if searching for something to be offended by - but when a song calls CMU the "Mighty Mother, Queen of Earth eternal," or goes so far as to say the university is the "Precious emblem of our lives Supreme," I must dissent. "Mighty," "supreme," and "eternal" are strong, strong words that are applied to God, Allah or Jesus Christ by their respective worshippers. Yet CMU is no god; it is a flawed, human organization, certainly not "glorified" or "ever symbolizing truth."
By itself, the word "ever" implies immortality, as if now and forever CMU stands as a beacon of honor and virtue. I'm grateful to Central for my degree, but not enough to defy it.
Still others may say these are only words, but again I must disagree. These words are spiritually charged, and yet they are used on a strictly secular occasion. Why is this so? This same university educates students to avoid using "gay" and "retarded" as insults, claiming those words are charged. This same university "find(s) nothing insignificant" about four nooses left in a classroom, maintaining that nooses cannot be separated from the context of lynching and black oppression. Well "sacred," "glorified" and "eternal" have a religious context, and yet this same university very carelessly uses those words to exalt itself like a god. You have offended me, CMU. You have offended me with your lack of understanding and tact, and your blatant show of hypocrisy and double standards.
Perhaps I am not a conventional minority. Perhaps I do not have a learning disability, an alternative lifestyle or a history of slavery in my genealogy, but that does not make CMU's disregard for my strongly-held religious beliefs any less insensitive.
Though singing "Alma Mater, Hear Us Now" has been a tradition for many years, I will remind the administration that tradition has been used to justify slavery, Jim Crow and depriving women the right to vote. While my situation is not nearly as severe, my point remains clear: Tradition alone is no excuse. Simply because the Alma Mater has been sung for a long time does not justify its contents.
If CMU's administration truly values cultural sensitivity and respect, then they will select a song without such charged and religious language. If not, they contradict themselves, perpetuating the very actions they condemn.
