RETURN TO Patriot Voice News School Spirit

School Spirit is poor at Mason because of a number of specific things. Among these many things, is the poor and shabby Year Book that the School produces. Only Seniors have their pictures in the book and the book itself is shabbier than most good high schools. It may seem trivial to mention such a small thing but life is composed of many small things. Other reasons are:

The poor housing on campus is a disgrace. There seems to be some willing hostility to students being a vibrant part of their campus. How else explain the refusal of the Administration to assist the Greeks, and any other organizations who wish to do so, from building housing on campus. Other schools in the UVA system have on-campus Greek, and other organization housing, why not GMU? The answer is an elitism that views students as so much extra baggage.

One UVA system University President, not GMU’s, was heard to remark that nothing made him happier than when the Campus was emptied of students AND faculty during breaks. This may be seen as a joke, but it exemplifies the attitude of many. The Students are seen as merely an inconvenient annoyance to justify professionals being on the payroll.

One way to fix this would be to involve parents, taxpayers and the students themselves more in the running of the University. Volunteers should be sought and recruited to fulfill many functions at the school. This would not only save money but also dilute the professional careerist staff with a larding of those with less of an axe to grind.

Students should be hired to perform as many jobs as possible at the school. If this means raising some of the salaries paid in these positions, then raise them. There is no reason to hire outside personnel for any jobs except those that absolutely no one on campus is qualified to do. Students should be hired for everything and wages should be raised high enough to get them to take these jobs. After all their money would be recycled back into the University Community. If would function as de factor scholarships for needy students.

What ever happened to students busing tables to work their way through school? What happened is the school doesn’t want to employ them. There are all kinds of agendas that students doing this work get in the way of. Vendors who get contracts to provide services on campus should be required to hire students exclusively, to keep their contracts. As a matter of fact students and alumni should be given preference in granting these contracts.

Again, the purpose of the school is not to make a profit but to create an environment in which education can occur. Strong school spirit is part of this. A school is not a business, nor is it a play-toy for ideological extremists of the Left or Right, nor is it a proper place for sociological experiments.

But, let’s take a mundane example of how the University dampens school spirit, and crushes pride in GMU. Ever notice the driveway that goes from Patriot Drive up to Johnson Center? It is one of the most heavily traveled arteries of the school. We’re talking pedestrian traffic, kids walking to classes and dorms. Yet, it is a pock marked dirt trail full of potholes and ruts with NO SIDEWALK WHATSOEVER for the poor students and faculty to walk on. How better to show disrespect for the student body than make them dodge cars and trucks and walk in the mud along this heavily traveled thoroughfare? How can students have pride in a school that makes them walk on a run-down road with no sidewalk? Doesn’t that tell you something about where the priorities are?

Now all this is no particular person’s fault, it is a systemic fault. It is systems, principles, ideologies, values, rules and laws that make people do the things they do, whether they are good things or bad things. Nothing is accomplished by accusing this or that person or by indicting everyone either. It is in the structures, and rules that we are governed by that our problems are lodged. Change the laws and rules and you change conduct, not the other way around. We need to favor people walking and biking over people having to use cars. One way to do this is to build good clean and well maintained walkways for HUMAN BEINGS to walk on, and bike on. Then, and only then, will we lessen the dependence on cars on campus with all the pollution and cost they entail.