Two central themes in Marx's speech were his emphasis on Amherst's public mission and the social responsibility of its students. He stated that the founders "established a private school with a public mission" that "pledged ... not to discriminate on the basis of the ability to pay, but also not on the basis of 'any particular religious opinions.'" Marx draws attention to this concept of diversity in not only religion and race, but also in the socioeconomic sphere. We applaud this re-emphasis because so often, the popular conception of 'diversity' concerns only race.
Marx referred often to President John F. Kennedy's speech delivered exactly 40 years ago Sunday, declaring "privilege is here, and with privilege comes responsibility." Social responsibility is a favorite theme of Marx's. He reminds us that the vast resources of the College and many of its students and alumni give us an advantage that should be used towards more nobel ends. It is our "responsibility to learn, engage and change the world ... to serve the community ... to work with the less privileged." In short, an Amherst education is both a gift and the source of obligation.
While Marx could have expanded upon how we could assume such responsibility, perhaps the suggestion is enough to prompt movement. While Amherst is far from a perfect institution, we'd like to ask all students to stop and to take a look around them. We are members of, as Marx says, "an American College-like America today, a privileged and powerful place." This "act of consciousness," this admission of our privilege, might cause some discomfort, but it enables us to break out of the "bubble" that Amherst students love to complain about.
Marx warns, "we must not ever become a gated community," and we agree. The apathy on our campus is well-known and often lamented, yet it is not indestructible. Our new president asks "that privilege ... not dull us into complacency, into the indolence of prosperity." We're all a little too caught up in our own lives, a little too complacent, to look to the outside. We're all too consumed with achieving our futures to remember the past. It should not require a President's inaugural speech every decade or so to make us look beyond Memorial Hill and consider how we might not only enrich our future bank accounts but the lives of others.