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Tuesday, Apr 16, 2024

Student Leadership on 10 O’Clock Ross

This Monday night will be the first official “10 o’clock Ross.” (Translation: continental food will now be available in Ross Dining Hall from 10 pm to 11 pm every Monday-Thursday night.) We are very excited that the folks in Dining Services were willing to work with us on this initiative. If you see Dan Detora around, thank him! From the beginning, Dan listened to students and was enthusiastic about turning ideas into action.

But, to be sure, enacting change does not end with administrators. Ultimately, it is on us, the students, to foster our campus culture and sense of community.

Like many other colleges and universities around the country today, we have been participating in a dialogue surrounding stress. While some of us may be looking to the administration for tangible changes that address certain pressures, (and there is, of course, legitimacy in that), we believe that students can play a role too. In this spirit, we hope students will take advantage of 10 o’clock Ross in the following weeks.

What would it look like if we, as a student body, committed to one hour of no academic stress? What if we, instead, spent that hour together, exchanging meaningful conversation over a bowl of cereal or playing bananagrams with new friends while drinking a cup of tea? What if we made a concerted effort to not let our conversations be dominated by recounting all of the papers we have to write and exams for which we have to study, and instead discussed that inspiring reading we did or performance we saw?

10 o’clock Ross presents a unique opportunity. It is not yet defined, and all of us have the power to set the tone. Let’s take ownership over our community and our culture. Instead of letting 10 o’clock Ross turn into a room full of computers and readings and problem sets, let’s use it to catch up with our friends, grab some ice cream (or perhaps hot chocolate), and end our nights as a community, together.


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