Friday's Forum

The forum on Friday really brought to light for me the idea that our campus is really quite separated between faculty, staff members, and students. This was especially obvious to me when we were asked to stand in the area where we felt the most uncomfortable and a majority of the faculty and staff members went to the dorm area where, later, a majority of the students said they felt that they had the most ownership. I feel that, though each party of the campus – students, faculty, and staff – are all essential to keep the campus running smoothly, and though we all interact with one another daily, there is still quite a significant divide between all of us. Whether caused by class, culture, “rank,” or age, it is still interesting to reflect that on a campus that is supposed to be so community oriented and inclusive, there should exist such a distinct line that these three groups so thoroughly avoid crossing. Of course, we do need to have our boundaries, but at what point do these boundaries become too distinct and actually inhibit us from understanding one another? Even reflecting on the forum now, I realize that we really didn’t have any housekeepers at the event and we discussed, prior to the forum, the fact that the housekeepers whom we did ask, turned us down because they felt that they would be out of place in that setting. This, I believe, is just one example of where the boundaries we have set get in the way of everyone understanding one another, and I really believe that we need to find a way to overcome these barriers.