E. Alex Jung

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Alex Jung
See also E. Alex Jung's entry in Columbia's directory.

Eugene Alex Jung (usually known as E. Alex Jung or 'Alex Jung'), CC '07, was an active and well-known student at Columbia, majoring in anthropology. He was a co-founder of AdHoc magazine and later served as its Editor-in-Chief, Chair of the Student Governing Board, Co-president of the Columbia Queer Alliance, and was a leader in the 2006 SHOCC demonstrations. Jung has also developed a close personal relationship with Jewelnel Davis, University Chaplain, while working as a Chaplain's Associate.

Jung wrote columns for the Spec that covered a range of topics: free speech, the Columbia administration, hate crimes, gender and sexuality, and the Manhattanville expansion. His columns on race, however, were the most controversial. Some consider his columns to be similar to those by Nell Geiser, a former Spec columnist.

In a Spectator column on April 26th, 2007, after suggesting that all too often "the responsibility [for facilitating dialogue] falls on marginalized people for not 'reaching out" or being too 'confrontational'", Jung rhetorically offered to "dance for [readers of the Columbia Daily Spectator] kabuki-like with chopsticks in [his] hair".

Views on race

Jung believes we live in a "system of whiteness". He has written that some white people, including some of his closest friends, are anti-racist lovers of justice. However, he believes that whites as a group are complicit with systemic racism.[1] He believes that white people, as a generalization, are unaware of their supposed privilege[2] and resistant to discussing race issues[3].

Furthermore, Jung believes that the Core Curriculum focuses excessively on the ideas and works of white men.[4]

Preceded by
Hector Chavez
Chair of the Student Governing Board 
2005 - 2006
Succeeded by
Sakib Khan


References

External links

Jung's Spectator column

2006

2007

Responses to Jung's column