Temple's Border Key Words:

Community Partnerships: Ideally these would allow neighborhoods members become a part of the Temple University community. Students and neighbors would share space and resources to make the area surrounding Temple University enjoyable for all people. Under these conditions Temple’s neighbors would be able to have a say in the actions of the University. Also a solid community partnership would allow many students from the segregated suburbs to shed their naïve fears and anxieties about people who live in communities that surround the University.

Militarized border: The major difference between the US/Mexico border and the Temple University border is that there is not a physical fence. However, the border is clearly demarcated by the large red Temple banners and like the US/Mexico border armed guards and “state of the art” technology (some of the same devices used by the military) is used to “prevent” certain people from entering its boundaries.

Discourse: My use of this word is to show the hegemonic power of words. Because Temple’s discourse is shaped around words like “prevention,” “security,” and “safety” one is to assume that there are indeed very dangerous elements beyond Temple’s borders and that the police are absolutely necessary. The failure of the university to mention the surrounding neighborhoods or the possible problems these neighborhoods face, leads the viewer to believe that these places are “naturally” “chaotic” and “unruly.”

Honor Students: I generalize honor students all honor students as being affluent white and from segregated suburbs. While of course there are always exceptions to the rule, I would estimate my assertion to be correct. The quote about SAT scores certainly proves my point. It is my assertions in this paper that one of the primary concerns for the university is the capital and status these students bring to the university. Instead of risking losing these kids to the bogus assumptions these students or their parents might have a the neighborhoods surrounding Temple, the university has constructed this militarized border. It is true some people maybe repelled by Temple if the school addressed petty economic crime through community building instead of its current border patrol policy. However, I feel that community building would create much more well rounded students.