INDEED

If you're interested in a thoughtful discussion of Yale's (not-so-secret) division between graduate and undergraduate students, read Eric Tam's post here -- the permalink's busted, so read through Eric's discussion of the grade strike and his thoughts on GESO, and then find the post called "Grads and Undergrads." David's reply is here.

I echo Eric's thoughts wholeheartedly. Teaching Yale undergraduates was a wonderful experience for me. I found Yale undergrads to be very decent and very thoughtful people. (That includes Josh, of course. . .) Eric is right when he claims that many graduate students join GESO because they love teaching Yale undergrads and because they are attracted by GESO's attempts to reduce section sizes and provide more training and recognition for teachers.

Eric describes himself as a "(somewhat skeptical) member." Almost all of the people I identified with in GESO described themselves in that way. There is a more radicalized core of GESO members who do most of the organizing and mobilizing, but many or most of them also do it because they love teaching. Corey definitely loves teaching. I haven't talked with him recently, but I doubt that he meant to imply that Yale undergrads are uniformly imperious or even close to it.

You have to admit, though, David, that you all definitely had a better deal in many respects. Better dining halls. The exercise equipment in the colleges must have been nice. And those cool college libraries. . .and college courtyards. . .and having a college Dean go to bat for you when you have a tussle with a t.a. or a faculty member. . .

I was never jealous, though. Not at all. No, sir.