In the Spring of 2015, after a year of unprecedented student activism, a group of WashU students and faculty came together to create a guide that would tell another side of WashU’s ongoing history—the truths excluded from the dominant campus narrative. Until now, Washington University has told you its story through orientation programs and the public affairs office; a narrative that is necessarily exclusionary. This guide is our collective response. All articles are written by different authors and based on lived experiences. With articles on campus policing from points of view of black students, Islamophobia from the point of view of a Muslim student, the history of student-led activism from the points of view of student organizers, this is a People's History of Wash U.
History is just a collection of stories. And so we must be concerned with who is telling these stories. Our mission is to 1) build community among dissenting peers 2) educate incoming students 3) challenge the status quo, and 4) amplify underrepresented narratives that have been systematically marginalized directly and indirectly by the institution. For many of us, our contributions are rooted in a deep desire for our University, as a community and an institution, to be an active and accountable participant in the fight for justice.
Editor's note: First, the views of one author do not represent those of all authors. We do, however, share a commitment to uplifting each other's stories. Next, this guide is not and will never be complete. We are limited in our coverage and so we welcome any submissions that promote an anti-oppressive platform for people to share their stories.
Lastly, this guide was inspired in part by Howard Zinn’s account of US History, where he states,
“I'm worried that students will take their obedient place in society and look to become successful cogs in the wheel - let the wheel spin them around as it wants without taking a look at what they're doing. I'm concerned that students not become passive acceptors of the official doctrine that's handed down to them from the White House, the media, textbooks, teachers and preachers.”
We hope that you use this site to challenge the official doctrine, to think critically about the stories presented, and to inspire a lifelong quest of fighting oppression.
To learn more about the history of disorientation guides, click here.
History is just a collection of stories. And so we must be concerned with who is telling these stories. Our mission is to 1) build community among dissenting peers 2) educate incoming students 3) challenge the status quo, and 4) amplify underrepresented narratives that have been systematically marginalized directly and indirectly by the institution. For many of us, our contributions are rooted in a deep desire for our University, as a community and an institution, to be an active and accountable participant in the fight for justice.
Editor's note: First, the views of one author do not represent those of all authors. We do, however, share a commitment to uplifting each other's stories. Next, this guide is not and will never be complete. We are limited in our coverage and so we welcome any submissions that promote an anti-oppressive platform for people to share their stories.
Lastly, this guide was inspired in part by Howard Zinn’s account of US History, where he states,
“I'm worried that students will take their obedient place in society and look to become successful cogs in the wheel - let the wheel spin them around as it wants without taking a look at what they're doing. I'm concerned that students not become passive acceptors of the official doctrine that's handed down to them from the White House, the media, textbooks, teachers and preachers.”
We hope that you use this site to challenge the official doctrine, to think critically about the stories presented, and to inspire a lifelong quest of fighting oppression.
To learn more about the history of disorientation guides, click here.
“Dissent is the highest form of patriotism”
– Howard Zinn