2008 Woodie Awards
Flames of The Torch
Campus Resurrection
Issue date: 7/14/08 Section: Editorials and Opinion
Students here at St. John's have been complaining about the lack of campus life for the past few years. Residents say that the campus dies each weekend, forcing them to go elsewhere to have some fun on days off.
Sure, it gets quiet here on weekends, and perhaps more could be done by the University to foster life here on campus.
Still, some of the responsibility falls on the students themselves. Those who want more to do around here on weekends and in between classes can and should do something about it.
Most events on campus are planned by students. There are committees within Student Government, Inc. whose sole responsibility is to set up concerts, movie nights, and dances.
In addition, events like Commuter Appreciation Week and Homecoming Weekend are coordinated by the Student Programming Board, yet another organization whose purpose is to make campus more interesting for fellow students.
However, to the disappointment of student planners and administrators alike, events have been faced with embarrassingly lower and lower attendance every year. Last fall, the University sponsored a concert by Grammy-winning hip-hop artist Common.
Of the 6,008 seats in Carnesecca Arena, only 575 were filled. Worse still, women's basketball, while experiencing one of its most successful seasons in years, received the support of only a few hundred spectators per game after they qualified to play in the WNIT tournament.
Fortunately, with each year St. John's finds new hope for an improved campus life in the arrival of thousands of new students. Incoming freshmen have the opportunity to make dramatic improvements to the state of campus.
A student fresh out of high school and overwhelmed at the scale of this university might wonder just how that could be possible.
The answer is simple: get involved.
There are countless clubs and activities for freshman to jump right into which can allow them to have fun and to help make St. John's a better place for themselves and their peers.
Sure, it gets quiet here on weekends, and perhaps more could be done by the University to foster life here on campus.
Still, some of the responsibility falls on the students themselves. Those who want more to do around here on weekends and in between classes can and should do something about it.
Most events on campus are planned by students. There are committees within Student Government, Inc. whose sole responsibility is to set up concerts, movie nights, and dances.
In addition, events like Commuter Appreciation Week and Homecoming Weekend are coordinated by the Student Programming Board, yet another organization whose purpose is to make campus more interesting for fellow students.
However, to the disappointment of student planners and administrators alike, events have been faced with embarrassingly lower and lower attendance every year. Last fall, the University sponsored a concert by Grammy-winning hip-hop artist Common.
Of the 6,008 seats in Carnesecca Arena, only 575 were filled. Worse still, women's basketball, while experiencing one of its most successful seasons in years, received the support of only a few hundred spectators per game after they qualified to play in the WNIT tournament.
Fortunately, with each year St. John's finds new hope for an improved campus life in the arrival of thousands of new students. Incoming freshmen have the opportunity to make dramatic improvements to the state of campus.
A student fresh out of high school and overwhelmed at the scale of this university might wonder just how that could be possible.
The answer is simple: get involved.
There are countless clubs and activities for freshman to jump right into which can allow them to have fun and to help make St. John's a better place for themselves and their peers.
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