Humor in the University of Virginia’s Cavalier Daily is rather like Italian naval victories: somewhere between scarce and non-existent. Thus Marta Cook’s column today, “Engendering Feminine Success,” was a pleasant surprise.
“Women like Katie Couric,” she wrote,
suffer the double-edged sword of beauty and charisma. They disarm men with their charm, but those same men shy away from promoting these talented women to executive positions.
Even though Ms. Cook forgot to mention Couric’s wealth, which no doubt also is a great burden, this plea for sympathy for a media star suffering from beauty and charisma is sparkling satire not often found in the Cavalier Daily.
It was satire, wasn’t it?
Equally humorous was an ad on p.8 today (not available online), “Happy Birthday, Kaleidoscope!” Kaleidoscope is the Kaleidoscope Center for Cultural Fluency at UVa (yes, “cultural fluencey”), a multicultural gathering place. The ad in an invitation to a birthday party:
Celebrate 2 years of excellence in multiculturalism —
come to the Kaleidoscope Center for Cultural Fluency Birthday Party! Enjoy some cake and meet people who can make your cultural programming dreams a reality; learn about the history of the ’Scope, and add your input for where you think cultural programming at UVa should go next!
What, I wonder, is the main difference between mediocre multiculturalism and excellent multiculturalism? Do college students these days really seek “excellence in multiculturalism” and have “cultural programming dreams”?
“Humor in the University of Virginia’s Cavalier Daily is rather like Italian naval victories: somewhere between scarce and non-existent.”
You’ve gone too far, Rosenberg. You’ve insulted my ancestry. You’re in need of some multicultural sensitivity training.
UVA ought to make that its motto (in Latin?):
“The University of Virginia: Making Cultural Programming Dreams Reality”