I have been going to DU for three years, three long years. Through my years here I have often been disappointed by the lack of community at the university. And if you call meeting at the Border every Tuesday and Thursday a function of a community, it is the end of the world as we know it.
By community, I mean a body of students, or people in general, coming together to swap ideas, interests and common goals and create a haven in which people of all backgrounds strive for a higher level of consciousness.
I am not talking about building another student center–the last thing we need is another modern-age building on campus. The university as a whole should be a student center.
Stop me if I am wrong, but isn’t college supposed to be a place where students stretch their boundaries of intelligence, imagination, understanding and experience? Isn’t college a place where all the fun is to be had before we get shipped off to the real world? Simply going to class everyday does not broaden your horizons, nor is hanging out in front of Sturm Hall broadening your experience. There has to be more to DU than our number one ranked hockey team or the occasional guest speaker.
The DU campus lacks energy. When I walk to and from class I often feel like a walking zombie, uninspired by my fellow classmates, no activities to be seen around campus, people enclosed in their little cliques and other people walking absentmindly to their classes, without a smile or a frown.
How do we create a community? Simple. Whatever idea you have, bring it to life. We need poetry talks on the lawn where aspiring DU poets present their works while people listen. We need art exhibitions on the Driscoll Bridge where people can see the talents of the student body. We need more concerts, more music, more noise! We need more guest speakers to inspire us. Students can be guest speakers as well; after all, everyone has a story to tell. We need more opinions and views being submitted to the Clarion, so people can have avenues to pursue.
We need more people involved in club sports, to have fun and stay fit. We need a volleyball net set upon the lawn so students can exorcise their day-to-day demons in a friendly volleyball game. We need book sales on the lawn, were people can be have the opportunity to buy books for less and increase their imaginations. We need more theme festivals on campus.
We need more student involvement.
A community cannot be formed without the enthusiasm from students. Instead of running home after class to watch TV, stay on campus, implement an idea or participate in one. Get together with friends or people who share similar interests and bring something to this campus. Bring energy, bring ideas, bring diversity, bring something!
This campus puts me to sleep with its boredom, and I am sure it does to many others. DU, I call on you to lift this boredom veil off of this campus. Inspire us, provoke us, educate us, and make us thirst for more!
