Part of the reason students choose small schools like Lawrence is for the nurturing environment and strong sense of community. Lawrence affords us the ability to not only know almost all of our peers, but also forge strong relationships with alumni. Everyone who ever went to Lawrence is involved in our educational experience.
Respect is imperative to the proper function of a supportive community like Lawrence’s. We not only need to respect other people for their contributions to our university, but to respect ourselves enough not to disregard others around us. College is a time for broadening horizons and growing as a community, but also living independently and making decisions for ourselves. The incidents in Plantz and the greasing of the stairs in Hiett show a blatant disregard for any sense of community, and a refusal to mature together based on shared experience, the very learning our liberal arts college strives to offer.
The most disturbing thing about each of these incidents, though seemingly very different in character, is they reveal a failure of our common educational goals. The anonymous slurs in Plantz and dangerous pranks in Hiett show an immature lack of respect for all fellow students, and more disturbingly, an inability to acknowledge responsibility for personal actions. Though these acts are petty and hurtful, a small, personal community like Lawrence is a perfect place to learn how to take responsibility for one’s actions and beliefs. Acts like this show a disregard for the sense of community the rest of the campus is trying to forge. If campus rules, and more importantly, communal respect are not enough to regulate our community, there is not much hope for more campus unity.
Staff Editorial
