Live Tweet: Special Collection featuring Cornel West and Robert George ’77

Editor’s note: This article was initially published in The Daily Gazette, Swarthmore’s online, daily newspaper founded in Fall 1996. As of Fall 2018, the DG has merged with The Phoenix. See the about page to read more about the DG.

On Monday, February 10th, Cornel West and Robert George ’77 came to campus to discuss the importance of community, the future of liberal arts, and learning how to interact with those who have differing views. Here is a tweet recap with students’ reactions and observations from the event.

by
Mon, Feb 10 2014 18:18:09

Special Collection featuring Cornel West and Robert George ’77

If you missed Monday’s event at the Friends Meetinghouse, catch up with our staff and fellow students’ take on this controversial collection.

  1. swatgazette

    The Daily Gazette@swatgazette
    Meetinghouse almost full. Students passing out zines and wearing shirts that say “beneath human dignity.”

    Mon, Feb 10 2014 13:30:21

  2. KateAronoff

    Kate Aronoff@KateAronoff
    Pub Safe just said no one gets into all campus collection after all seats are taken. There are far fewer than 1500 seats. Rly @swarthmore ?

    Mon, Feb 10 2014 13:38:42

  3. Folks are filling in the seats. Gonna be a full house today to see @CornelWest. pic.twitter.com/J1XjJxJj4i
    SwatMountainJustice@SwarthMJ
    ·

    Mon, Feb 10 2014 13:20:40

  4. swatgazette

    The Daily Gazette@swatgazette
    George and West have entered the space. Collection looks like it is about to begin.

    Mon, Feb 10 2014 13:34:07

  5. .@CornelWest just walked by and complimented a students’ afro. Awesome. pic.twitter.com/oJ6Q0bibJR
    Danny Hirschel-Burns@DHirschelBurns
    ·

    Mon, Feb 10 2014 13:35:08

  6. swatgazette

    The Daily Gazette@swatgazette
    West and George are being introduced. Here we go….

    Mon, Feb 10 2014 13:37:21

  7. .@swarthmoreburke introduces @CornelWest and @McCormickProf. pic.twitter.com/MywEx6zBmV
    Danny Hirschel-Burns@DHirschelBurns
    ·

    Mon, Feb 10 2014 13:36:40

  8. swatgazette

    The Daily Gazette@swatgazette
    In George’s introduction, it’s mentioned he’s a bluegrass banjo player. Chuckles from the crowd.

    Mon, Feb 10 2014 13:39:29

  9. swatgazette

    The Daily Gazette@swatgazette
    West’s funny tidbit is that he made cameo appearance in the Matrix films. Lots of applause from the crowd.

    Mon, Feb 10 2014 13:42:24

  10. DHirschelBurns

    Danny Hirschel-Burns@DHirschelBurns
    Cornel West wins the award for the best cuff links.

    Mon, Feb 10 2014 13:43:28

  11. swatgazette

    The Daily Gazette@swatgazette
    George on West: “We’re united with each other in love and… above all a devotion in liberal learning.”

    Mon, Feb 10 2014 13:43:57

  12. swatgazette

    The Daily Gazette@swatgazette
    George: “Liberal arts education is in crisis today.”

    Mon, Feb 10 2014 13:45:20

  13. swatgazette

    The Daily Gazette@swatgazette
    George mentions the smaller crisis is funding liberal arts education while the larger issue is identity – “what’s the goal, in other words.”

    Mon, Feb 10 2014 13:46:41

  14. swatgazette

    The Daily Gazette@swatgazette
    George: “The real goal is the deepening of the person”

    Mon, Feb 10 2014 13:48:16

  15. swatgazette

    The Daily Gazette@swatgazette
    George: “Do we believe there is an intrinsic value with knowledge or the pursuit of knowledge that justifies what we are doing?”

    Mon, Feb 10 2014 13:49:14

  16. swatgazette

    The Daily Gazette@swatgazette
    George: “We human beings are not simply centers of rationality. We have feelings. We have emotions.”

    Mon, Feb 10 2014 13:52:30

  17. swatgazette

    The Daily Gazette@swatgazette
    George: “Some of our feelings and emotions and passions attach to the.. values we hold. Most of the time that’s really good.”

    Mon, Feb 10 2014 13:52:41

  18. swatgazette

    The Daily Gazette@swatgazette
    George: What’s right and wrong is notoriously controversial in our society?

    Mon, Feb 10 2014 13:55:38

  19. swatgazette

    The Daily Gazette@swatgazette
    George: “If we’re doing our job it will be controversial in any center of liberal learning.”

    Mon, Feb 10 2014 13:55:48

  20. swatgazette

    The Daily Gazette@swatgazette
    George: “On some things we do agree, we have an intellectual consensus. On some things we don’t agree.”

    Mon, Feb 10 2014 13:57:16

  21. swatgazette

    The Daily Gazette@swatgazette
    George: “We can and do disagree on the proper means” of how to reach these goals

    Mon, Feb 10 2014 13:57:50

  22. swatgazette

    The Daily Gazette@swatgazette
    George mentions respect and dealing with people we think are wrong while knowing that we might be getting it very, very wrong.

    Mon, Feb 10 2014 13:59:10

  23. KateAronoff

    Kate Aronoff@KateAronoff
    Liberals (and conservatives) love talking about poverty and not inequity #swarthmore #robertgeorge

    Mon, Feb 10 2014 13:59:22

  24. swatgazette

    The Daily Gazette@swatgazette
    George relating a Mill’s passage to the possibilities of getting it right and wrong when dealing with opposing views

    Mon, Feb 10 2014 14:03:04

  25. swatgazette

    The Daily Gazette@swatgazette
    George: “The truths that really matter… are more than just propositions to be affirmed….”

    Mon, Feb 10 2014 14:05:14

  26. swatgazette

    The Daily Gazette@swatgazette
    George suggests focusing not on the answer of yes or no to questions like “Does God exist?” but rather on its impact and meaning

    Mon, Feb 10 2014 14:06:30

  27. swatgazette

    The Daily Gazette@swatgazette
    George: “To actually be willing to do the liberal arts… takes enormous courage.”

    Mon, Feb 10 2014 14:08:09

  28. swatgazette

    The Daily Gazette@swatgazette
    George: “Your responsibility is… to show the courage to make yourself vulnerable…”

    Mon, Feb 10 2014 14:09:28

  29. swatgazette

    The Daily Gazette@swatgazette
    Now it’s West’s turn to speak!

    Mon, Feb 10 2014 14:09:41

  30. swatgazette

    The Daily Gazette@swatgazette
    West: “I want to pay tribute to the faculty that is at the center of the greatness of Swarthmore.”

    Mon, Feb 10 2014 14:11:04

  31. swatgazette

    The Daily Gazette@swatgazette
    West speaking quickly because he wants to “make sure we have time for dialogue”

    Mon, Feb 10 2014 14:12:25

  32. swatgazette

    The Daily Gazette@swatgazette
    West: “How does integrity face oppression? … How does honesty face depression?”

    Mon, Feb 10 2014 14:13:51

  33. swatgazette

    The Daily Gazette@swatgazette
    @swatgazette: West: “How does decency face insult? … What does virtue do in the face of brute force?”

    Mon, Feb 10 2014 14:14:22

  34. swatgazette

    The Daily Gazette@swatgazette
    West explains how he tells his students that they are learning how to die when entering his classroom

    Mon, Feb 10 2014 14:15:37

  35. swatgazette

    The Daily Gazette@swatgazette
    West: “How do we engage in this transformation that culminates in the… maturation of a soul?”

    Mon, Feb 10 2014 14:16:39

  36. swatgazette

    The Daily Gazette@swatgazette
    West: “We never want to engage in… sterilized discourse.”

    Mon, Feb 10 2014 14:19:17

  37. swatgazette

    The Daily Gazette@swatgazette
    West: “Humanities, thank god Swarthmore has a commitment to humanities!”

    Mon, Feb 10 2014 14:19:25

  38. swatgazette

    The Daily Gazette@swatgazette
    West: “These four years, you’re learning how to die… always acknowledging you might be wrong.”

    Mon, Feb 10 2014 14:21:45

  39. swatgazette

    The Daily Gazette@swatgazette
    West on queer students: they might be wrong but their humanity never questioned.

    Mon, Feb 10 2014 14:22:27

  40. swatgazette

    The Daily Gazette@swatgazette
    West says, “Chekhov has more love in him than some Christian churches I know” as the crowd chuckles

    Mon, Feb 10 2014 14:24:21

  41. DHirschelBurns

    Danny Hirschel-Burns@DHirschelBurns
    West is wonderfully narrating some of the essences of liberal arts ed. via obscure examples, but is he really revealing anything?

    Mon, Feb 10 2014 14:26:15

  42. swatgazette

    The Daily Gazette@swatgazette
    West wraps up with huge applause from the audience

    Mon, Feb 10 2014 14:28:51

  43. swatgazette

    The Daily Gazette@swatgazette
    Back to George: “You are wrestling with… what the point of a liberal arts education is.”

    Mon, Feb 10 2014 14:29:35

  44. swatgazette

    The Daily Gazette@swatgazette
    Speakers open up the floor to engage with them about the worries and doubts about a liberal arts education

    Mon, Feb 10 2014 14:30:14

  45. swatgazette

    The Daily Gazette@swatgazette
    Jacob Adenbaum ’14 asks George about his statements about recognizing that he’s wrong and questions George’s stance on gay marriage

    Mon, Feb 10 2014 14:31:10

  46. swatgazette

    The Daily Gazette@swatgazette
    Adenbaum to George: “What would it take for you to recognize you’re wrong and admit it?”

    Mon, Feb 10 2014 14:31:44

  47. swatgazette

    The Daily Gazette@swatgazette
    Adenbaum questions whether West feels like he is legitimizing George’s stance by going on tour with him

    Mon, Feb 10 2014 14:32:54

  48. swatgazette

    The Daily Gazette@swatgazette
    George: If we’re defeated in an argument intellectually should we be happy or sad?

    Mon, Feb 10 2014 14:35:28

  49. swatgazette

    The Daily Gazette@swatgazette
    George: “I came [to Swarthmore] with a lot of views that are probably more similar to yours today than mine now.”

    Mon, Feb 10 2014 14:35:36

  50. guidogir

    Guido Girgenti@guidogir
    Robert George thinks being a straight white conservative male is being on the unpopular side – as if LBGTQ kids have tons of support?

    Mon, Feb 10 2014 14:37:09

  51. swatgazette

    The Daily Gazette@swatgazette
    George: “When it comes to arguments about marriage… I had to do some thinking.”

    Mon, Feb 10 2014 14:37:59

  52. swatgazette

    The Daily Gazette@swatgazette
    George: “I found myself in a very different place than you find yourself. Is it a comfortable place to be?” (Cont’d)

    Mon, Feb 10 2014 14:38:26

  53. swatgazette

    The Daily Gazette@swatgazette
    George (cont’d): “No. I’d rather have the applause. But is it where I have to be if I have any integrity? Yes, it is.”

    Mon, Feb 10 2014 14:38:44

  54. mel_tier

    Melissa Tier@mel_tier
    R. George: we must always be willing to be wrong during discourse. But I am not wrong in my belief in equal rights.

    Mon, Feb 10 2014 15:24:17

  55. swatgazette

    The Daily Gazette@swatgazette
    Now it’s West’s turn to answer….

    Mon, Feb 10 2014 14:38:54

  56. swatgazette

    The Daily Gazette@swatgazette
    West: “I’m engaging in dialogue so… [audiences] can be exposed to” different viewpoints.

    Mon, Feb 10 2014 14:42:36

  57. swatgazette

    The Daily Gazette@swatgazette
    West: “I’m convinced what [George] says about liberal arts education is very significant.”

    Mon, Feb 10 2014 14:43:11

  58. swatgazette

    The Daily Gazette@swatgazette
    Stephanie Styles ’14 asks West about sincerity

    Mon, Feb 10 2014 14:44:07

  59. swatgazette

    The Daily Gazette@swatgazette
    Styles: “It’s very dangerous when we allow individuals to separate their beliefs from their actions”

    Mon, Feb 10 2014 14:44:26

  60. swatgazette

    The Daily Gazette@swatgazette
    Styles: “There are so many people who do not have the luxury of merely discussing these issues.”

    Mon, Feb 10 2014 14:44:53

  61. swatgazette

    The Daily Gazette@swatgazette
    Styles: “What is it about the mainstream that has not been reevaluated?”

    Mon, Feb 10 2014 14:46:47

  62. swatgazette

    The Daily Gazette@swatgazette
    West: “It is up to the students of Swarthmore to know that it is a privileged site…. It is a slice and a set of very important voices.”

    Mon, Feb 10 2014 14:50:05

  63. DHirschelBurns

    Danny Hirschel-Burns@DHirschelBurns
    By my reckoning, this has been a pretty pointless exercise besides getting everyone in a single room. We all agree dialogue is good.

    Mon, Feb 10 2014 14:54:23

  64. swatgazette

    The Daily Gazette@swatgazette
    George says challengers to your intellectual assumptions are your friends, even if they’re wrong

    Mon, Feb 10 2014 14:55:37

  65. emmajoy92

    Emma Joy@emmajoy92
    Just heard Robert George and Cornel West speak. Thank you @swarthmore for changing my life with this dialogue. #learningsomethingnew

    Mon, Feb 10 2014 14:59:53

  66. SwatIndependent

    Swat Independent@SwatIndependent
    Thanks also the students & faculty who put aside their own dogmatisms long enough to really listen.

    Mon, Feb 10 2014 17:46:36

  67. rbuurma

    Rachel Sagner Buurma@rbuurma
    @swatgazette Thanks for live-tweeting! Useful for those of us who couldn’t attend.

    Mon, Feb 10 2014 15:17:43

  68. swatgazette

    The Daily Gazette@swatgazette
    And that concludes the collection!

    Mon, Feb 10 2014 15:09:34

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Featured image by Eléna Ruyter ’14/The Daily Gazette.

 

Grant Torre

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