In spite of a championship-winning lacrosse team and nationally recognized academics, many undergraduates reportedly feel a lack of connection to the Homewood campus. Senior Michael Winnett believes he has found the solution.
In the coming weeks, students may notice seemingly spontaneous dances in the upper quad between class periods, or a crowd of undergraduates lined up to spill their secrets to a "JHU Confessional" booth. This is all part of Winnett's "Hopkins Sociable" project - an initiative to give all students a chance to participate and develop a sense of campus unity.
Winnett said his initiative is in response to the Student Rights and Interests Committee's recent report on happiness levels at Hopkins, as well as his own observation of the "head-down syndrome."
"Students often walk from class to class with their heads down, ignoring the world, blinders up against the reality that we're all part of a shared community," Winnett said. "I want to get rid of the excuse 'This is Hopkins, where fun goes to die.'"
Though many of Winnett's plans are undisclosed to maintain an element of spontaneity, behind the scenes he is working to gain support from members of the Student Government Association and the administration.
Junior SGA senator Marc Perkins, president-elect, said that he fully supports Winnett's proposal to bring more fun activities onto campus.
"Any student initiative to increase school spirit is a good idea and it's definitely a goal that the SGA can get behind," Perkins said.
Perkins compared Winnett's ideas to the Lighting of the Quad ceremony that takes place in December.
"Though [his ideas] are a bit more ridiculous, more improvised, it's like the Lighting of the Quad, a new tradition that's been really successful. Most traditions don't just start organically - they're deliberately created at one point or another," Perkins said.
Since Winnett's project is not run by any specific organization, it is unclear whether Hopkins Sociable will fall into obscurity once Winnett has graduated. One thing he hopes will live on, however, is the "JHU Confessional."
Winnett borrowed the idea of the JHU Confessional from the popular gossip Web site by the same name, though he says that the Web site lends itself more to slander and negative energy than to fostering a sense of community. His Confessional will be an actual booth, set up in alternating locations around campus, where any student can voice their secrets to a video camera - anonymously or otherwise.
As Winnett plans to debut the first JHU Confessional recording on May 4 at an event in Shriver Hall, he has already begun to seek out and interview several student leaders.
"So far we've had people on-screen to discuss the sexual tensions on M Level, what it's like to be a sorority girl or a lacrosse player, we've had the president of the Muslim club," he said.
Winnett hopes to provide a forum for typically unheard voices as well as recognizable student leaders.
"Even those who are afraid of public speaking can get themselves out there if they're anonymous. It's like Halloween - you can be de-individuated and express yourself," he said.
Jason Heiserman, director of Student Activities, said that while he supports Winnett's goals, he cannot be certain that the initiative will lose momentum after Winnett's graduation.
"I don't know what kind of staying power [Hopkins Sociable] will have because it's not a club, there's no president who can hand the reins over," Heiserman said. "That said, I'm very supportive, I hope he'll make interesting things happen on campus and give people something to talk about and take photos of."
Heiserman hopes that Hopkins Sociable may work with his newly founded Student Traditions board. Students were recently selected for this committee, and Heiserman hopes it will be fully launched in the fall.
"[Winnett's plans] aren't that far off from what the Student Traditions Board is trying to accomplish . . . the main difference is that we have a lot of staff backing and Michael does not yet, but it's all about creating tradition on campus, developing school spirit," he said.
Winnett said he wants to focus on the little details, like the 10 minutes between class periods that could be utilized to re-energize the campus.
"We want to set up massive games of tag or Humans Versus Zombies [an active game traditionally played at Goucher], play music in the quad between class periods, really just bring things to life beyond a classroom setting," he said.
Winnett said that even if undergraduates decide to mock the activities rather than get involved, that reaction will still unify the student body.
"Even if they're against it, they're against it together, and it's something for everyone to talk about," he said.
Winnett can be contacted at jhuspirit@gmail.com and hopes that students will give suggestions.
