As the quality of campus social and residential life has become of increasing concern over the past few weeks, the focus of this column has shifted somewhat. Originally geared solely toward the world of alcohol, I now find myself speaking on behalf of Middlebury’s distinct social troubles. While I would hardly pretend that alcohol consumption represents the height of social activity, as a columnist focused on a subject inherently outside the realm of academics or other organized collegiate activities, I feel as qualified as anyone to speak in this instance.
Recently we’ve witnessed a rising tide of angst and anger in respect to Middlebury’s social scene. From the ongoing debacle of room draw, the controversy over super blocks and the continuing absence of large-scale parties happening anywhere on this campus, students seem more conscious than ever of the potential problems plaguing our social lives. And while these concerns are not unfounded, I can tell you that this episode plays itself out on a semi-regular basis.
Every senior ever will tell you that this college was a better place when he or she was a first-year — I distinctly remember it being said to me four years ago (even as I sometimes think it now). Nostalgia and senior year go together as readily as the housing process and general incompetence; as our college lives draw to a close, seniors can’t help but assess how things have changed during our time here, from the most sweeping, large-scale ruptures to the subtle shifts in consciousness that alter our experience. Inevitably, what seniors harp on most — instead of the closing of Atwater, the loss of nights in the Health Center or nearly anything from the pre-financial crisis days — is the perceived decline in Middlebury’s social life.
Although some alums might have you believe that things have been going downhill ever since their graduation, this perceived decline is more a result of the shifting experiences of seniors over four college years. After four years of college life and (we hope) a more developed outlook on the world, campus and its environs appear in a different light. As time passes and our views change, we can’t look on everything with the same sense of wonder and excitement that we might have as first-years.
That’s not to say that this school hasn’t changed at all. Even besides the perks we lost in the aftermath of the endowment collapse, things have been changing here right along. For example, our hockey teams haven’t won a national title in four years! ... But to be more serious, when I was a first-year, my senior friends described a school where every weekend the Ridgeline Woods would erupt with social house parties, where winter nights saw massive events around bonfires and where crowds could wander across campus knowing they’d run into something fun. Now, as we look at the sorry state of our social houses, the dearth of happenings on an average weekend, and the months-long hibernation campus goes into every winter, one can’t help but question where things are going.
Of course, four years ago, our ranking was nowhere near what it is now, admissions numbers were lower and all other indicators painted a picture of an institution clearly not on par with the excellence of today. By every measure, it seems this school has been improving at a rate commensurate with the size of our endowment in the headiest of times. Less easy to measure is how much people value their experience here, how much they invest in their relationships and how much time they make to get out of Bi-Hall and actually do something that doesn’t require a written report upon its conclusion. There’s life here that can’t be measured on paper and that won’t be reflected in our admissions statistics.
What worries me more than this school being overrun by recluses, perfect SAT scores or socially inept grade grubbers, however, are the complaints I hear about bad weekends with nothing going on. It seems that most weekends on this campus pass with broad complaints about the lack of events or anecdotes of how Public Safety broke up that one party. As in everything, people are quick to complain, but much less likely to actually do something about it.
If there is one bit of wisdom I could provide as a senior, then, it is this: events don’t just happen, they need to be created. People spend too much time complaining about the lack of parties on weekends and not enough time actually making those parties happen. Campus “social life” isn’t some independent entity determined by some intricate system of levers and gauges deep under the biomass plant, it is the sum of all of our actions and of how we choose to make use of our four years here.
If people want to see things improve on this campus (at least in the somewhat limited sphere of activity I describe), they had better take action for it. We can’t continue to stand idly by as the days of our riotous youth pass with ever increasing frequency. It’s time we all let homework slide, forget the stresses of the outside world and do College the way we imagined it. Starting this weekend.
Waters to Wine: Want a social scene? Three letters: DIY
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