TAYLOR LIFKA ‘17

Opinion Editor

It’s no secret that a source of contention exists on this campus between the student body and administration. Whether it’s party registration, lack of housing or social spaces, there’s always something we, as students, can find to complain about.  The easiest manner in which to deal with discontent is to go straight to the source, administration.

Over my past two and a half years here as a student I’ve found myself involved in many conversations regarding these types of frustrations.  As the young minds of this campus I find that we are vocal and sometimes all too quick to jump to conclusions.  “Why can’t administration just… fill in the blank.”

There is nothing wrong with discussing the problems that surround this campus. In fact, I encourage you to do just that.  How can we, as a community, grow if we’re not pushing the envelope and looking for a better solution?  This is not the problem. Instead it’s the rash manner in which we, more often than not, find ourselves blaming the source of power for the failures that we see on our campus. 

This past Thursday, Feb. 4 we all received an email from our president Adam Weinberg in which he included  “The State of the Campus,” remarks about the current state of Denison, sent directly to each and every one of us.  After reading through President Weinberg’s thoughts I couldn’t help but feel incredibly lucky to be a part of this community.

Why?  Denison University is a community comprised of 2,500 students and all 2,500 of us have a voice.  How incredible is it to be able to receive an email from our president in which he can candidly discuss with all of us not only the exciting new initiatives occurring, but also all areas of concern.

We are so quick to judge the decisions made by our administration, but at the end of the day we’re ultimately judging the decisions made by our student body, the decisions that we all have the opportunity to influence and change.

President Weinberg addressed issues that have the potential to affect every single one of us on a day-to-day basis, such as diversity and differences, hazing and underground fraternities, wellness and sexual relationships.  In an open and inviting way, our president has asked all of us, as students, to join him in the journey of becoming the best possible community that we can be.

So next time we all feel frustrated about something at our University let us remember that we don’t have to be the president of DCGA to make a difference, nor do we have the luxury of putting all of the blame on administration for our own personal areas of discontent.

As our mission statement says, we as Denisonians are called to be “autonomous thinkers, discerning moral agents and active citizens of a democratic society.” Therefore, let us realize the true luxury we have is being given the opportunity to join Adam Weinberg and the rest of our administration in realizing the full potential of our beautiful campus on the hill. Our administration is not out to get us, but rather here to work with us, together.

As Adam Weinberg said, we are a wonderful generation of Denisonians, and I truly believe we have so much potential to bring about the change our community so greatly deserves.