When I came to college, I envisioned that there would be people on the quads fighting for causes they believe in. I pictured signs and posters all over the university proclaiming a group’s position on a certain matter. I envisioned mass crowds at any event on campus.
But almost two years into my “Bradley experience,” I have to say I’m a little disappointed.
Don’t get me wrong; I love Bradley for the usual reasons of small classrooms, opportunities for extra-curricular activities and so on. But there is one thing that has been bothering me: our campus is apathetic.
No, not pathetic, apathetic, in that our campus lacks a certain enthusiasm, or concern about different situations and causes.
It has been well-documented that our student body has a certain problem in attendance of athletic events, and that people are “disappointed” in our attendance.
But forget the attendance factor. My frustration stems from the idea that people generally just don’t care about standing up for something. There are certain issues that most college campuses greatly care about and put a great deal of energy and time into, but here at Bradley no one seems to lift a finger about these issues.
I see and hear from friends at different campuses across the country, and they tell me about issues they are standing up for. They are taking issues to their student governing bodies and taking to their quads to voice their opinions about current events.
They tell me of a genuine care about different world, national and local issues.
At Bradley, yes, we care about different organizations and raise large sums of money for great causes.
But why hasn’t any organization or group on campus raised an eyebrow to the tensions in the Ukraine? Why haven’t any of the College Republicans or Democrats shown large interest in the recent gubernatorial primaries? Why hasn’t a group of people on campus made some noise about Illinois possibly raising the minimum wage?
The March 28 editorial in The Scout featured a frustration about the lack of participation in the SBO elections. That is concerning, and it furthermore proves my point.
I do not have a clear answer to our apathetic campus, nor do I even care about some of the issues myself.
But someone has to care.
Throughout history it is known that it has been the college students that stand up and say something for causes and issues that affect us on many different levels.
We are the future, so get involved and start making some noise on the Hilltop.