Bouwer van Niekerk reflects on two incidences of students urinating on another's belongings at Stellebosh University, writing that it is easy to take swift action against those who tarnish an institution’s name but it is more difficult to change a culture that allows for such shame to occur.
Dignity is a person's right to be valued and respected for their own sake, and to be treated ethically. In English, it derives from the Latin word dignitas – literally worthiness.
The right to dignity is not only a right enshrined and protected in our Constitution, it is also a universal human right. It is, at least in my mind, the most fundamental of human rights, as it provides every one of us with the comfort that we should not only be acknowledged and treated as humans, and therefore in a dignified manner, but that we are also empowered to act dignified.
The entitlement of dignity is twofold – it is something that we can both expect from our fellow human beings, and it is a manner that can define the way in which we can live our lives in such a way that differentiates us from all other species. We are human because we can expect to be treated as such, and we can treat all other things, be they humans or animals any other living thing, in a dignified, worthy, and ethical manner. However, our legitimate expectation notwithstanding, history teaches us that this has historically been far from the case.
Avoidance of war
In his 2018 book Enlightenment Now: The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism and Progress, the Canadian cognitive psychologist Steven Pinker demonstrates how since the dawn of the modern era, the great powers of the world were pretty much always at war. He continues to show that (as he terms it) "the Long Peace" – a period during which the superpowers of the last century have not been at war – has only commenced in the 1960's. Other armed conflicts between nations have also drastically declined.
Although it unfortunately still sticks out its ugly neck (the current war between Russia and Ukraine being a case in point), nations have tried to avoid wars over the last few decades at almost all costs. On this point, Pinker opines that "[h]uman life has become more precious, while glory, honour, preeminence, manliness, heroism, and other symptoms of excess testosterone have been downgraded." So, what caused this reasonably sudden decline in our lust for battle and the concomitant chasteness that has moved us a species to embrace dignity and other universal human rights?
In his seminal work Factfulness, the Swedish physician Hans Rosling shows us how most people systematically get the answers to simple questions about global trends wrong. He then continues to offer a rather profound explanation as to why this happens and then proceeds to demonstrate that the world is in a much better state than most of us may think. Importantly for current purposes, he shows how occurrences such as legal slavery, HIV infections, children dying, battle deaths, child labour and hunger have dramatically decreased over the last two hundred years, and how things such as women’s right to vote, literacy, democracy, child cancer survival, girls in school, internet access and immunisation have as dramatically increased over the same period. Rosling attributes most of this to the fact that the extreme poverty rate – the share of humanity living on less than $2 a day – has decreased from 85% in 1800 to 9% in 2017.
A conclusion to be drawn from the above is reasonably obvious: the more humanity exits extreme poverty, the less barbaric it becomes, the less it concerns itself with violence and the more dignified it becomes and the more it focuses on the betterment of all people. Regrettably, however, there are always exceptions. And unfortunately, these exceptions have recently repeatedly manifested themselves at an institution of higher learning.
Similar to the children in Lemony Snicket's 1999 novel, Stellenbosch University has also been experiencing a series of unfortunate events. The main actors in this tragic tale both resided in men's residences at the university and both of whom found the drunken urge to relieve themselves on the possessions of fellow residents. With apologies to the Arnold Schwarzenegger franchise, these stars of Urinator 2: Rise of the Morons have placed the university's culture into the spotlight. How is it that in this day and age, something as disgraceful, disrespectful and undignified happens not once but twice in one year at the same university?
Make no mistake, I am not suggesting that "in my day" all students were the embodiment of chastity and virtue. Being an alumnus of Stellenbosch University and having called a men's residence home for three years, I readily admit that I on occasion, attended a social function where the tipples shared among chums were both in quantity and potency sufficient to sedate a small herd of buffalo. I am, of course, not particularly proud of this. But it also does not leave me with a sense of self-loathing and despair, as I believe that attending university is not just about studying the works of Shakespeare, pondering the thoughts of Plato, and contemplating the characteristics of jurist's reasonable man.
For those few who are lucky enough to attend university, it is also an environment wherein one can make lasting friendships, have new experiences, and broaden one's horizons. But it remains a privilege and one that should not be abused. And this brings me to my thesis.
Easy to take swift action
I am not suggesting that those with bad judgment, alcohol tolerance and bladder control should be pardoned for their actions that would make Neanderthal troglodytes blush – grown-ups make grown-up decisions and should face the consequences that accompany them. But the recent spate of these deplorable events that have more than pissed off our society, and the pushback that have accompanied the repercussions that have followed it by (let's be honest) those who know nothing but white privilege, is worrisome. And the environment that allows for this to take place – the campus at Stellenbosch University – should do some sober soul-searching.
It is easy to take swift action against those individuals who tarnish an institution’s name. But it is more difficult to change a culture that allows for such shame to occur. And this is what now must surely be expected of Stellenbosch University. It starts with creating a campus where respect for human dignity is non-negotiable. A culture must be created where everyone – students and faculty included – must value and respect everyone else for their own sake. For if this is not done, whatever is left of the university's name will be flushed down the toilet.
- Bouwer van Niekerk is a Johannesburg-based attorney.
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