2008 Woodie Awards
Left out in the cold
Opening ceremony changes unrealistic
Mujakovic, Dino
Issue date: 9/21/06 Section: Opinions
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Each year, stereotypical scenes are seen on campuses across the nation. A number of students are wandering aimlessly around campus, holding their schedule in front of their faces while trying to find their classes, conveying the obvious message "I am a freshman." One way used by Lakeland to introduce and welcome those students is the opening ceremony.
In the past the opening ceremony was open to the whole student body while one convocation credit was given. It was the time to meet and welcome new students enrolled to our small community located among farms and cornfields. However, this year's ceremony was restricted to those who received an invitation.
Sandy Gibbons-Vollbrecht, dean of students, stated that the change was not an easy decision and not taken lightly. The main reason behind the change was the continuous increase of disrespect in the form of cat-calls towards students-mainly females-walking across the stage.
This year, only those who were student leaders, presidents of organizations, residential assistants, academic programming assistants, student ambassadors, team captains and so on were invited. Those who did not receive an invitation were left outside in the cold.
Throughout the past, there has been an increased number of staff and security member spresent. This was to reduce the holler thrown at the new students during the ceremony. However, no change was completely accomplished, and the disrespect continued.
A part of those not invited felt unsatisfied and rejected. I always felt that this ceremony is the most positive highlight of the first semester showing support and appreciation towards new members of our increasing community.
This attempt to control the disrespect appeared semi-successful, while it failed in other ways. Several returning students who were in attendance stated that not much has changed and awkward interruptions remained.
One concern commonly mentioned by the students were the grunts of recognition of those on the football team or who fall under the category "jocks of the college." With that, the disrespect continued to a lower degree than in previous year, but was irritating nonetheless.
In the past the opening ceremony was open to the whole student body while one convocation credit was given. It was the time to meet and welcome new students enrolled to our small community located among farms and cornfields. However, this year's ceremony was restricted to those who received an invitation.
Sandy Gibbons-Vollbrecht, dean of students, stated that the change was not an easy decision and not taken lightly. The main reason behind the change was the continuous increase of disrespect in the form of cat-calls towards students-mainly females-walking across the stage.
This year, only those who were student leaders, presidents of organizations, residential assistants, academic programming assistants, student ambassadors, team captains and so on were invited. Those who did not receive an invitation were left outside in the cold.
Throughout the past, there has been an increased number of staff and security member spresent. This was to reduce the holler thrown at the new students during the ceremony. However, no change was completely accomplished, and the disrespect continued.
A part of those not invited felt unsatisfied and rejected. I always felt that this ceremony is the most positive highlight of the first semester showing support and appreciation towards new members of our increasing community.
This attempt to control the disrespect appeared semi-successful, while it failed in other ways. Several returning students who were in attendance stated that not much has changed and awkward interruptions remained.
One concern commonly mentioned by the students were the grunts of recognition of those on the football team or who fall under the category "jocks of the college." With that, the disrespect continued to a lower degree than in previous year, but was irritating nonetheless.
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