New changes should unite, not divide

This year has been full of new faces, big changes and numerous questions.
Bradley has hired Lewis J. Burger Center for Student Leadership and Community Service Director Jessica Chandler, Greek Life Assistant Director Nancy Schwartz, LAS Dean Christopher Jones and Director of Campus Recreation Kristen Nesvacil.
Meanwhile, the university is searching for a vice president of Student Affairs, an associate athletic director for External Affairs and an assistant director of the Springer Center for Internships.
It seems like every week there is another open forum with a campus visit for the candidate.
And then there are the ongoing general education revisions, a new meal plan, a mascot, a renewed push for school spirit and committees and review boards popping up left and right.
That is a lot of change in one school year – most of which directly affects us, the students.
As a student body of more than 5,000, most of us don’t have the opportunity to see what goes on behind-the-scenes. We don’t have the final say on who should be hired, or how budgets are allocated, or what general education revisions are made. And that’s not the students’ job.
What we do see is the final product. And many times this year, it’s been difficult to get the answer to the “why” behind final decisions and the processes that led to them.
But there’s another side to this.
We complain that we don’t like things like the meal plan or the mascot’s name, and then that’s where it ends – in complaints.
We talk to other students, we take to social media to blow off steam, but we don’t always think to tell administrators what we’re thinking. So the “why” behind our complaints isn’t answered for them either.
We can change our deans and our directors. We can add new courses and fix facilities. We can buy new t-shirts and create new programs. But until we all take a step back and assess our choices from both perspectives, the changes that students and administration want to see happen will not be appreciated, evaluated or answered the way they should be.
Students: actually take advantage of the surveys, the open forums and the feedback cards we’ve been offered to share thoughts with the people in charge. If administrators don’t know what we think, they can’t change anything. Props to those of you who have utilized those venues already.
Administrators: no, we don’t take the time to appreciate the behind-the-scenes of many of the decisions you have final say on. Many of your actions involve five, 10, even 15-year plans to accomplish goals. But if we don’t see how it benefits us in our four years on campus, then maybe the focus or the message needs to be reevaluated.
It all comes down to open communication and empathy.
We need to start trying to understand each other and openly communicate about it.
It is not an easy process, and we realize to accomplish this goal it’s going to take some time.
But we – students, faculty, staff and administrators – are all Braves. We’re all on the same team regardless of the title that lines our business cards.
So as we close this year and prepare for the next, let’s try to “go far, go Bradley” by first beginning with ourselves.