Take a quick glance at the front page of last week’s Lawrentian and you’ll see that an unfortunate trend presents itself: that of a somehow pervasive lack of respect that exists on our campus.
Last year, several large acts of vandalism occurred in Hiett Hall and several somewhat smaller acts were reported in Sage Hall.
This year, there has already been destruction and general mayhem in Hiett Hall, misplaced microscopes in Science Hall, and such extensive – and expensive – damage incurred to the grand pianos in the conservatory over the years that changes were recently made to the policies regarding their use.
The trend has been, especially in regards to the destruction in Hiett and the loss of the microscopes, to place blame on outsiders like townies or students who don’t live in Hiett. Similarly, blame for damage to the pianos is oftentimes placed on nonpiano students. No one thinks it is fair when everyone is punished for anonymous acts, but not a lot of people seem to want to either change the way they approach and handle things which are not their own or fess up when they damage said things. Let’s face it: Regardless of who is responsible for these disrespectful occurrences, they are acts that should cause all of us as Lawrentians to feel shocked and ashamed.
With the announcement made just last week that Hulbert House is officially coming down in March in order to make way for our shiny new campus center, it’s certainly high time to think about how to treat surroundings, equipment and belongings with the respect they all deserve.
We are privileged to attend this university that affords us amenities galore. No matter how much we complain about the appearances – or smells – of our dorms, they are roofs over our heads that are maintained for us.
We should respect the fact that people don’t just go to Hiett to party it up on the weekends, but actually live there and have to see it every day, meaning they might want to actually use the chairs or phones which have been destroyed.
We should all respect the fact that the Lawrence Conservatory bought and maintains the Steinway and Yamaha grand pianos. Could any of us afford to do that for ourselves?
We should all respect the fact that other students – and faculty! – have the right, and in fact are expected, to use the microscopes that the university provides.
Finally, despite the difficulties this may present to all of us as Lawrentians, we should try to get over the initial reaction of blaming outsiders, be they townies, Treverites or trombonists – not to offend any member of these three groups – and start to recognize and make efforts to change our own personal tendencies of disrespect.
Staff Editorial
