I’m invited!


The Board of Regents is visiting campus, and I found this invitation slipped under my office door. (Not from the Regents, obviously.)

This is clearly a dig at a certain regent who made some stupid comments. I’d like to go, except…

  1. My attendance would contribute nothing to diversity
  2. Nobody from the Board of Regents will bother to show up
  3. That’s my birthday! Can’t I find a better way to celebrate it?

My counterarguments would be…

  1. But it would show that even old white men support diversity
  2. I care what the students think, not the Board of Regents
  3. No.

I guess that’s my Thursday evening planned out then.

Comments

  1. Matt G says

    The maximum amount of diversity would be…representative of the population. I guess diversity in Morris goes to eleven.

  2. Pierce R. Butler says

    Does the Morris skyline actually feature a windmill and a mushroom cloud?

  3. says

    Dear PZ, I wish you an early ‘Happy Birthday’. And, remember, you are stealth diversity. Because, since you are not a Xtian Terrorist or Nat’C you a targeted minority in some circles. (If it were in floriduh or texass, I’d suggest you go in drag and distribute some ‘banned books’ just to piss off certain Rtwingnut governors).

  4. kingoftown says

    I had to look up what a “Board of Regents” is, I don’t think it’s a term used this side of the Atlantic. Sounds like a weird royalist society.

  5. Reginald Selkirk says

    According to Google Images, the Morris Area Chamber of Commerce used to run a photo of the iconic water tower with a rainbow in the backdrop. The photo no longer appears on their site, perhaps it was “too diverse” for the CoC.

  6. birgerjohansson says

    Happy too-early birthday! 🌻🌾🌺🌼🏵
    🕸🕸🕸 🕸🕷🕷🕷🕷

  7. birgerjohansson says

    …and if you think you do not look diverse enough, borrow a klingon outfit from some Star Trek fan students. That bony cranial crest will make you stylish.

  8. Derek Vandivere says

    Had a funny chat with my boss this morning about our group of IT architects – we realized that even though I’m a straight white dude, I do actually add to the diversity of it as I’m the only (ex) American!

  9. abb3w says

    Since PZ identifies as an atheist (last I heard), would his presence add to the diversity of “religious identities”? Or are atheists that commonplace?

    (The quotes are because I consider most uses of the term “identity” in social contexts to be more accurately characterized as “role”. However, I admit that’s a pedantic quibble over semantics which does not seem of great importance in this particular context.)

  10. moonslicer says

    I suppose I’m about as diverse as they come, and I’ve never felt the need to be celebrated. In fact, I’m somewhat confused. How exactly do people going about celebrating me? (“Well done, Moonslicer!” “Good on you, Moonslicer!” “We celebrate your diversity!”) I suppose I could go along and find out.

    On another note, I went into the library this morning and discovered to my horror that it was children’s story hour. The woman telling the story didn’t look like a drag queen, at least not like any drag queen I’ve ever seen. She looked like your average, ordinary woman. I got out of there in a hurry before I got drafted in to the duty.

  11. DanDare says

    @moonslicer its not a celebration for an individual. Its a celebration of adequate diversity in a group.

  12. StevoR says

    @ ^ moonslicer : i guessed it might be satire but I wasn’t sure.

    @ PZ PZ Myers : Happpy birthday, hope you have a great day and many more great days tocome and thankyou for this blog.