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It’s almost the end of the semester. Soon it will be spring, and the university will be eagerly sending acceptance letters to students for the upcoming fall. And for those students who choose to live on campus, they’ll now be living in residence halls with specific themes – all of them.
Let me just lay something on the table right at the beginning: I like people to pick an idea and stick with it. When I was an incoming freshman, I remember being barraged with information on diversity and equality. It was said I should treat the stranger at the end of my hall with the same amount of respect I treated my best friend. And without hesitation, I did. We were all told that coming from our supposed homogenous high schools, filled with carbon copies of ourselves, we would be experiencing new things and new ideas here on campus and learning about ourselves a little more in the process.
When I heard that Residence Life and Programs is planning on giving a specific theme to each residence hall next year, I scratched my head. What happened to diversity being the key to academic and social success? I, for one, enjoyed rooming with a kid from Down East my first year and a hip scientist from Portland my second. I got to experience and learn things I never learned before. I know if I lived with my high school buddy, we’d have killed each other. I also know that it was partly because I lived with people so different from myself that I have succeeded thus far in my academic career.
So my quandary is this: Why is Residence Life apparently changing its position now? I know about the data that says students stay enrolled if they’re comfortable with where they live. OK. But does this implicitly mean students in a diverse living environment are uncomfortable?
Furthermore, is Residence Life making the decision to go to themed living to appease some university mandate and not to scare off students and their money? I couldn’t tell you.
But what I can tell you is that I came into my first year of college very set in my ways. And partly because I was forced out of my comfort zone, I am the person I am today. But what about the Class of 2009? What will become of them if themed housing becomes the rule rather than the exception?
Just look at themed living so far. Take my native Kennebec Hall, for example. Several floors just became outdoor-adventure themed, meaning, in theory, the residents have a passion for everything from belaying to kayaking. And yet, word on the street is that the transformation to themed living has not only united lovers of Mt. Katadhin but also given solidarity to those passionate about another type of recreation – and I’m not talking soccer. So the quandary remains.
Now, to be honest, I’ve always wanted to be a resident assistant, but I have yet to apply. I’ve got some good ideas, and I think they would be better implemented with a plethora of diverse individuals, not clones. So for now I just sit back and hope that whatever Residence Life decides to do with our residence halls, it will be done with good intentions and plenty of planning. After all, hindsight is 20-20.
Ernest Scheyder is a junior English major who’s glad he was not pigeonholed when he was a freshman.
