Neighborhoods or Yayhborhoods? Who Knows?!

Graciously posted on behalf of Chris Scanlon by Reese Havlatka

It’s been an interesting transition for me to Michigan State. It’s strange to know I have both a cornfield and hockey rink on the same grounds, that the student section at Spartan Stadium can hold almost the entire undergrad population of where I went to school, and that said “where I went to school” could fit 104 times within the 5200 acres of MSU. It is nice, though, to finally have a fight song to call my own.

So this campus, which has it’s own two zip codes (for academic buildings and residence halls), is rather large. I say this in case my examples above didn’t give you that sense already. So the University is considering implementing this neighborhood concept to, in sense, provide services to students within pockets of campus in an effort to be more engaging, to “horizontally integrate” academic and student support systems, and be located in areas to become more accessible. Others may argue that this system further segregates this campus and attempts to mask budget cuts to identity-based services. This system is a hot topic of conversation in some of the professional circles around MSU.

My question is, who cares?

I’m not asking for who is being held down and who is pushed away. I’m not asking whose voices are being heard, rather, whose ears are even hearing what’s being said? Maybe I’m still just a tall fish in a big pond, but as someone who lives and works in the residence halls, and a Masters student in student affairs, I thought maybe I’d hear about ways to be a part of giving my two cents on the ideas of the concept after reading about it from afar. However, I only recently found out that on 2/15/2010 there was a town hall meeting in the Union for students to speak out on their thoughts concerning the neighborhood concept. I should have seen a flyer while walking around Erickson, the International Center, or Wonders Hall. Or, (I would think) the students I work with would have heard something and asked me about the meeting. But it didn’t happen

The State News reported that 40 students showed up at this summit at the Union to give their feedback. That is approx. 0.001% of the undergraduate population. I’m sure some students may have had class or maybe had a really interesting facebook conversation happening, but that can’t account for the lack of representation at the event. My thoughts? While lacking statistical significance, I contend that students are not aware of what is going on and don’t entirely know that they have the opportunity to be more involved.

What good does having meetings, a web site (where you can give your thoughts!), and powerpoint slides detailing meeting agendas actually do when students don’t know what’s going on. I realize this may be a sweeping generalization, so I understand I may be taking some liberties in this point, but I feel that 40 students and a few State News articles are a poor representation of the collective voice of the students. Those who feel that this movement with groupings and budget cuts are most affecting identity-based organizations need to be aware of what is happening to help impact the future of their community (or, communities- wherever they stand on the issue). We administrators, seasoned or emerging, have a duty to be sure that our students are well informed to create their beliefs and challenge ideas. Without properly including our students, we are doing a disservice to the future of Michigan State.