Whether people know it or not, J.W. Wiley is doing a terrific job for them -- for all of us.
He is the director of Plattsburgh State's Center for Diversity, Pluralism and Inclusion -- quite a mouthful. What it means is it's his job to make sure the college and the people who populate it don't suffer the humiliation of being discriminated against in any way. Toward that end, he tries to ensure everyone understands how harmful it is to expose anyone to that kind of treatment.
But Wiley doesn't stop at the edges of the campus. He takes his job so seriously that he tries his best to spread those lessons beyond the college, into the community. He does this in a number of ways: by speaking to various groups throughout the community, by holding workshops on the subject and even by writing a regular blog on this newspaper's Web site, www.pressrepublican.com.
For anyone who doesn't yet know about blogs, the term comes from "Weblog." It amounts to a running dialogue in which Wiley kicks off a topic for discussion or debate by expressing his feelings and invites readers to chime in. And they do.
Wiley's blog isn't always about diversity, pluralism and inclusion. In fact, it usually isn't. But the discussions often get around to those matters.
Wiley, an African-American man, arrived in Plattsburgh during the latter days of Dr. Horace Judson's presidency. One of the points on which he is most insistent is that diversity involves far more than considerations of race. Discrimination takes place based on a panoply of conditions, race being only one of them.
So it was no surprise to open his blog one day last week and see him taking on a local fraternity over its proposal to schedule a theme party, specifically, a "retard party." In order to attend, the partier had to dress and act like a retard.
The good news is that the party never occurred, as more sensitive and considerate consciences prevailed. The dreadful news is that at least a few people on campus must have thought the occasion was a good idea.
Wiley didn't, and somewhat harshly and incredulously explained why, which we hardly have to amplify on here. The term "retard" is as offensive as any we've had the misfortune to incorporate into our language. The hurt inflicted on anyone with intellectual limitations, or their loved ones or advocates, by the use of that inexpressibly insulting word is immeasurable. The fact it could be tossed around so blithely is shocking and tells us how much we need the J.W. Wileys of this world.
Andrew Pulrang of the North Country Center for Independence has valiantly fought this same fight for years, but he doesn't have Wiley's arsenal of weapons.
Without Wiley's fervor over seeing everyone treated respectfully, plus his various conduits to the community, many of these impositions would go unnoticed and unaddressed.
The community is greatly indebted to him indeed, whether it knows it or not.
Opinion
November 6, 2007
EDITORIAL: Wiley fighting for decency for all
- Editorial
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Editorial: Nurses, aides: a breed apart
A much overlooked and under-appreciated segment of an area's population is the nurses and aides working at nursing homes, assisted-living centers and in private homes. But they're not under-appreciated by the families of the people to whom they minister.
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Editorial: Nurses, aides: a breed apart
- Cheers and Jeers
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Cheers and Jeers: Feb. 6, 2012
CHEERS to Dr. Anne Cahill and JEERS to drivers who don't signal for turns and changing lanes.
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Cheers and Jeers: Feb. 6, 2012
- Letters to the Editor
- Speakout
- In My Opinion
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In My Opinion: Behind the city lockbox program
AFSCME Local 788 has received the opinion and award of Arbitrator Kenneth J. Toomey denying the union's grievance of the city's Financial Lockbox, by which residents' water, sewer and trash payments can be routed to a Glens Falls National Bank subcontractor in Hicksville, Long Island, union President Denise Nephew writes.
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In My Opinion: Behind the city lockbox program
