Dissent 101

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Each disguide also adapts to its specific community. At Boston College, a Jesuit school, Freshman Disorientation featured an article on the religious left. The University of Texas at Austin's disguide article 'Divide and Conquer: Asian Americans, Women, and Affirmative Action' was particularly notable at a campus shaped by its state's 1996 ban on affirmative action. Disguides focus on feminism and the experiences of marginalized students in a way that is wholly unpalatable to the official campus-orientation structure, which is obliged to stay on point with the college's message.

The regular orientation does not prepare you for being a woman in Boston College culture,' says Katrina Quisumbing King, a senior at the college and an editor of the school's current disguide. 'I don't feel comfortable, for example, on game days, when groups of men are yelling at you.'

Facts about sexually transmitted diseases, safe sex, and area resources for sexually active students are trademarks of disguides--and they're of particular importance at an institution like Boston College, where students are not given access to condoms or birth control prescriptions.

So the disguides are getting information out there. But amid the slew of parties, classes, symposia, and other to-dos scheduled during the first week of college, are freshmen getting the message?

Harvard freshman Jessica Ranucci thinks so. 'It is very easy to see Harvard as Harvard, the institution that has so much clout in everyone's minds,' she says. It is important to see that though it's a great place, it has its faults.'

The editorial board of the Harvard Crimson, the daily student newspaper, was nonplussed by the debut of a disguide on its campus. 'Perhaps its creators aim to recruit a revolutionary army from the ranks of incoming freshmen,' read one Crimson editorial. 'Or maybe its goal is to spark debate at any cost. . . . Often, the guide presents a legitimate topic of debate, but it quickly offers a biased view without even the slightest counterargument, confusing naive readers and infuriating more knowledgeable ones.'

Kelly Lee, who penned an article for the Harvard Disguide titled Rage: I'm a Working-Class Queer Black Woman, confirms that the guide met with mixed opinions--proof that it hit a nerve.

It should come as little surprise that the Harvard students who are most excited about building on this year's disguide template are women, queer folks, and people of color. Says Lee: 'These are the groups who have particular experiences on campus that they want to share with the student body.'

Excerpted from Bitch (Spring 2007). Subscriptions: $15/yr. (4 issues) from 4930 29th Ave. NE, Portland, OR 97211; www.bitchmagazine.com.

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