In my three years at Hopkins, I can think of no year more turbulent than this one. On every level, this school has been shaken. From the referendum through the reaccredidation process to Chris Elser, every facet of the school has had to rethink itself in some way during the course of the year. While a little reinvention never hurt anyone, I think it is time for stability at Homewood so that everyone has a chance to make the most of their experience here.
The year started out rocky, with an abbreviated Club Night and a shortened Block Party. Upperclassmen wondered if the freshman class was the cause of this. Fortunately, they were wrong, as the Class of 2007 has proven to be essentially just like us. While a couple more freshmen might study writing or philosophy, as opposed to neuroscience or biomedical engineering, they have the same goals and outlook as the upperclassmen do. Unfortunately, they have slightly different memories of Orientation.
Once Orientation became a distant thought, Student Council (StuCo) was rocked by two major events: the Student Activities Commission (SAC) looked as though it would go broke before the end of the fall semester, and a referendum for a new constitution was brought to vote. Both incidents caused much anxiety, as no one knew how groups were going to receive funding. Eventually StuCo settled down and the SAC was able to recuperate misused and unused funds. However, the funding policy was completely revamped, and limits were imposed on many items. While these changes might have been necessary in the long run, student groups had little time to react and were asked to swallow a lot of change in a short period of time.
There were many highs during the year that deserve special mention. Spring Fair and MSE Symposium both did amazing jobs and programming as a whole was much improved. Academically, the reading period is finally sacred due to a memorandum sent out by the Deans, and more old exams are on reserve than ever before. A Rhodes Scholar, two Marshall Scholars and a Nobel Laureate were all honored.
The final thought on everyone's mind as this year comes to a close is Chris Elser. His death forced the student body to rethink their personal safety, and raises an important question about responsibility: at what point should the university intervene to ensure the safety of its students? While students must obviously take appropriate precautions, some matters are out of our control and must be dealt with at an institutional level.
While the student body teetered along, a large portion of the administration worked on the reaccredidation process. The school turned itself inside out to a group of visitors, who served as judges. These judges were toured around, given copious amounts of information about the school, and were asked to pass judgment. Obviously, the effort was merited, and we passed with flying colors. However, time and time again two important questions were raised, to which there were very few good responses.
I doubt the university will ever be able to answer the question of community if we are constantly trying to sort through the ups and downs. Thinking back, there has been very little correlation between one year and the next. Students have been too busy adjusting to the changes around them to wholly relate to others. Our relationships are too often defined by shared frustration. Community cannot be frustration. It should be treasuring yearly traditions and building on them. We must have basic, invariable expectations that are met each year. We should be able to look a bit beyond the horizon, instead of only seeing the next day. Once this happens, students will be happier, and we will forge stronger bonds between ourselves, the faculty and the administration. Only then do I think we will be able to move along and properly answer the second question.
I very much look forward to next year. I doubt that there will be as much turmoil. StuCo and SAC should be in equilibrium, and I'm fairly certain Orientation week will run smoothly. Fall Festival is going to be a lot of fun, and hopefully a new tradition will begin at Hopkins for us to build on. The next step will be Charles Village. In any event, hopefully we'll be blessed with a less tumultuous year, as we surely deserve it.
Charles Reyner was the 2003-2004 Student Council Executive President.
