Looking for trust

College students get a bad rap. Among any population there will be a few misbehaved deviants scattered among many upstanding individuals; but at Middlebury, it seems that some faculty and administrators overestimate the prevalence of these malcontents.

My friend Charlie and I recently walked through the confusing maze of crosswalks around the new rotary. Out of mere confusion, we attempted to walk behind a car to avoid a potentially awkward crosswalk showdown. The woman at the stop sign rolled down her window furiously and reprimanded us. Dumbfounded, we half-heartedly apologized and left. Charlie turned to me a few seconds later and said, “She only got upset because we’re college students.” In many respects, I feel that he is right. Our attempt to make this woman’s drive easier was misconstrued as the mindless act of an unconcerned college student.

I think that this perspective of the angry driver is echoed among some faculty and members of the administration. In particular, I ran into a sticky situation involving bicycles.

About two weeks ago, I walked outside Jewett House and found my bike, along with five others, chained together to a pole. I guffawed, amused at a prank that that may have been played on our house. But I was wary to cut the lock because maybe, just maybe, it was not the ruse of one of our friends.

I called the Department of Public Safety and asked if an officer had locked our bikes. When the operator answered “no,” I told her I was cutting the lock. Before I could find bolt cutters, I received a call from Public Safety claiming that they had locked the bikes. I was confused.

Unbeknownst to me — and most students on campus — Public Safety now locks up bikes that are not attached to a bike rack or locked down. My bike, sitting on a rail outside my home, was locked up. This was allegedly for “my safety,” to prevent anyone from stealing it.

However, Public Safety also failed to notify me of this, and had I not been proactive, they would have taken the bikes to storage and never sent me any notification about it.

Not only does this display the lack of communication and transparency between the administration and students, but it signifies a general lack of trust in students. While the policy was meant to protect bikes, my bicycle remained chained for days and was almost removed from my house without any notification to myself or my housemates.

I must note that the Bike Warden was very congenial and apologetic about the situation, so I hate to harp specific people when I am speaking of a larger group.

But I felt this same lack of trust at the 200 Days party as well. The school hired two bartenders to manage hundreds of students, which sounds like a great ratio right? Sense my sarcasm?

About two hours into the party, service of alcohol was cut off because of commotion near the counter. In order to recommence serving, the bartenders required that hundreds of students self-organize into two lines. Not only was this impossible, but it was an attempt to hurl culpability of the mess onto students rather than poor planning. I personally saw no outrageous behavior or pushing, but the bartenders were making a scene.

This “notes” comes after some disheartening personal experiences and from the many people I have heard talking about disgruntled dining staff or overzealous Public Safety officers at a party. And while I respect all College faculty and staff, I feel that sometimes that respect is not reciprocated from them. Though I do understand that College students can often be boisterous and inconsiderate, I ask that officials treat these situations on a person-to-person basis rather than have it shape overall attitudes regarding students. I hope I speak for others in saying that I don’t want my game to be salted because of some other idiots.

I see the irony of hating on the administration as a whole when I am pleading that they refrain from doing so to us. But this is my “notes” and I am going to consciously ignore my own hubris and just vent…