The first month of school is drawing to a close and already I have a bad taste in my mouth. Maybe it is the Derek Zoolander-esque turn that I have to face as I come on to campus in the morning. It could possibly be the 20 minutes or so that I have to wait in traffic when I leave due to the new stoplight that helps the flow of traffic. Or maybe, just maybe, it is the complete lack of direction and motivation everyone seems to have already.
God I hope it’s the stoplight, but humor me and assume that it’s that whole motivation thing.
I really wanted to believe things would improve here after we gained the University designation. I was told that this would be the era of forward thinking on campus.
“Hey,” I thought to myself. “It would be an exciting change of pace.”
Sadly, we are entering a period of emulation rather than the development of ideas that are desperately needed. Our Greek system needs help after being subjected to poor policies that were developed by people who wanted this place to be run like a much bigger campus. Our SGA is in a spot of disarray and infighting after no one could quite figure out if they had a real constitution or not. Don’t forget the wide range of positions opening up as our faculty and advisors seem to be fleeing the ship at the same time.
We can use the Greek system as a microcosm of what is happening on campus. Five years ago, it was not uncommon to have close to 100 girls participate in formal recruitment alone. Think about that for a minute when you compare that number to the 21 girls who went through last fall.
It doesn’t seem fathomable that things could go that far south that fast, but it did. During this time period, we were guided by students and faculty who figured that we needed to follow other campus’ guidelines to run our Greek system when we have been better off by openly discussing what was working here and what could be done to improve and build upon it. Just because an approach has worked elsewhere, does not mean that it will succeed here. It is not the fault of the people who are left in charge now. When you have seen something done one way for too long, you become resistant to change. This can not continue if we are to excel again. We have an extremely unique campus and we need exceptional people to run it.
I take something I read in the SGA constitution to heart. Our mission is to act as one unified voice of the Union… to enhance the quality of student life. I think this is an idea that everyone involved with this campus should be motivated to work toward. It is imperative that we take pride and a personal interest in what is happening here.
I have always supported the idea of thinking bigger on this campus. We absolutely require it, but we do not need someone else’s templates being retrofitted for our campus needs. We need leaders, both from the student body and faculty, who understand what issues need to be addressed for us to grow into something greater.
I encourage the powers that be to address the real problems when they are looking to fill these positions. These are going to be the people that work together in shaping the present and the future of our campus. I hope our student body steps up and seizes the opportunities to become true leaders on our councils and organizations instead of abusing them as a resume builder for when they leave. Take care of this campus and it will take care of you.