Beets t-shirts article provokes responses

The RA staff of Beets-Veenstra is reading through the book of I Corinthians for staff Bible Study. This week, we came up to the 10th chapter, and I felt like it spoke to the situation that has become a hot topic of conversation not only in our dorm, but also around campus. Based on our staff's discussion and the excellent discussion that the leadership of Beets had with John Witte and Josh Armstrong, I felt that the lead article of the Chimes warranted a response by someone deeply involved in it.

A majority of Beets Hall, including myself, bought T-shirts with the slogan ``Guys on top. Girls on the bottom. Just the way we like it.'' adorning he back of it. The sexual innuendo is obvious and explicit, but it can also speak to the unique situation of Beets: two floors of guys living above one floor of girls. Campus was inundated with these bright red shirts a couple of Fridays ago sparking reactions from everyone who saw them. Many people thought that the shirt was funny and nothing more than a harmless joke. I did as well when I was first confronted by the idea. Unfortunately, some people didn't find it very funny. In fact, a wide variety of people--faculty, staff, visitors, students--were quite disturbed and offended by them.

When I bought the shirt, I knew that some people were going to be offended. I knew that people could not help but react to the shirt, whether it be positively or negatively. At the time, I didn't care how people were going to react just as long as there was a reaction. I thought it was funny, and how people reacted was their business, not mine.

I was proud on that Friday that we all wore our shirts. Everywhere that I went on campus, I saw Beets Hall representing. We were united; we were one. It was great thing to witness. I was on a high.

But then the complaints started rolling in, and I came down from my high. For the first time, I actually stopped to think about the shirts. I thought about whether or not it was appropriate. I thought about what purpose the shirts were serving and what the motive was behind them. I wish that I would have stopped to think before I had bought the shirt.

I feel that the ball of responsible freedom was dropped when the decision was made to go through with the plan for the Beets Hall shirts. We knew that some people were not going to look favorably on the shirts. Not telling Kirsten Hyatt, our RD, and letting her find out about the shirts as we were wearing them speaks volumes to this. We couldn't show her the design because we knew what she would say about it. We knew that she would actually make us think about whether or not it was appropriate or not.

I wish that everything that I do could glorify God. I know that, based on my human nature, this is incredibly difficult. I won't glorify God with everything that I do. It's impossible. I simply wish that I would have thought of the repercussions of this shirt before I bought it and wore it.

I stand behind the ideal of responsible freedom one hundred percent. I wish that responsible freedom was actually participated in as much as it is flippantly thrown around in conversations here at Calvin. Within responsible freedom, we need to make sure that we stress being responsible just as much as we stress the freedom that we have. This has been a humbling experience for me, and I have learned a great deal about myself because of this whole ordeal. I hope that others can learn from it as well.

Mike Fennema `03

RA of 3rd Beets

I am writing in response to an article entitled ``Dorm shirt sparks controversy, Student Life inquiry.'' I feel it is appropriate to provide the Calvin community with information from someone in Beets Hall. As a Christian, and a freshman, I stepped on campus last fall expecting a rigorous academic curriculum, a healthy living environment, an opportunity to experience God daily, and most importantly, the experience of living on my own and having fun doing so. When I first learned that Beets was going to produce a dorm shirt, I was excited. I thought nothing less of the morality of my peers, Calvin College or Christianity when I learned the phrase, ``Guys on top, Girls on the bottom, Just the way we like it.'' It was simply funny. I did recognize that a sexual innuendo could be insinuated, but I figured that it wouldn't be a major concern. I guess I was wrong. I could not believe the opposition.

John Witte was quoted in Chimes saying, ``We're concerned that a community around here would come up with a shirt that was offensive and that represents the whole community.'' Give me a break! We're just trying to have a good time! In the culture in which we live today, everything in existence can somehow be twisted into a form of a sexual innuendo. I admit that the Beets shirt does contain a sexual innuendo, but the main priority was to state the fact that Beets Hall is different because of the presence of women living on First Beets. However, to all of those Calvin students who find the shirt offensive, I wish you the best of luck when you step out of the Calvin bubble and find that the entire world is offensive.

I would like to consider some other ideas that are circulating about the shirt. In the Chimes, John Witte was quoted as saying ``We are concerned about shirts that represent our community here, and we do have some informal ways to monitor this, which we're reevaluating.'' I would hope that Residence Life is reevaluating their policy because other Calvin College shirts say things like, ``Dutch Men, Setting Dykes Straight!'' What about that shirt? Another idea that I would like to speak on is the insinuation that there will be an informal apology to students of Calvin College. If the Beets Hall leadership submits an informal apology, I will not stand alone in refusing to back that apology. I am sorry that there are people living on campus that are perverse and took offense to the shirt but I am not sorry for buying one and wearing it. I hope that this letter has helped to release some of the tension between Beets and the Calvin community and at the same time, provide an insight to life in Beets.

Christopher Algera `05

I'd like to offer a few thoughts on the article about the offensive Beets t-shirts in last week's Chimes. Unfortunately, it minimized the issues involved and gave the shirt publicity it didn't deserve.

The article emphasized that ``no action was taken'' by the administration, a less than accurate spin. I sent out a message to all student leaders in Beets expressing our objection to the shirts and asking to meet.

Josh Armstrong, Assistant Dean of Residence Life, and I then met with these student leaders last week. Together we discussed the process by which the shirts were made and sold, the objectionable message of the shirts, the witness to Christ that this message obscures, and ways we could formally respond.

At the student leaders' request, we reserved judgment on a decision to ban the shirts from being worn on campus, so that they could respond to the Beets community themselves. Most of them quickly saw the t-shirts within the context of Christian community and their witness to Christ. We had hoped that their efforts in communicating this to Beets residents would have more educational value than us heavy-handing a decision on the shirts immediately. Leadership includes taking responsibility for situations your actions create.

The Chimes article preempted these efforts by splashing the headline on the front page and by quoting only one student leader, whose views were not representative of most of the students at our meeting. I'm afraid that the wrong message was given in that article, and I hope the Beets community can wade through this to hear the voices of other leaders who are more cognizant of the issues.

Regardless of the formality of the response and how this story ends, there will be some students who get it and others who don't. I'd like to formally state that the administration believes the shirts are inappropriate and don't belong on our campus. Our approval process will evolve to avoid situations like this in the future. Any shirt with Calvin's identity on it represents ALL of us, from the president to the staff and students who work and learn here. If we're going to offend others, let's do it in the name of justice and righteousness, not sexual innuendo.

John Witte

Associate Dean of Residence Life