Editorial
Tangible and intangible strides towards success on the Hill
By Editorial Staff
April 6, 2017
Tags editorial
This past Friday, students were granted permission to park in visitor/faculty lots during weekend hours when the faculty does not need the space. Campus Safety was clear that this has been a problem in the past. This privilege will remain only as long as students are responsible about removing their cars from faculty and administrative lots before Monday morning. While this seems like a small victory, it is nonetheless proof that the administration is listening to our complaints and suggestions.
Director of Campus Safety Frank Coots commented: “Everyone wants to be heard and [to feel] that their opinions matter.” He continued, “I think we can use this particular issue to open more dialogue and explore new quality of life issues that will benefit everyone.” On that note, it seems worth considering what other “quality of life issues” ought to be on the docket. This category can be divided into two sub-groups: the tangibles and the intangibles.
Tangible issues include those aspects of student life that are directly linked to living on a small liberal arts campus; things like where we can park, what our housing and meal plan limitations might look like, how often the bathrooms are cleaned, etc.
The intangibles are--naturally--more challenging to nail down. This April, students are speaking up in favor of neurodiversity, drawing attention to sexual assault prevention and addressing queer intersectional subjects. None of these issues are easy and they may lead to uncomfortable conversations, yet we remain confident that the community’s capacity for empathy, understanding and action will produce positive results. We applaud the courage of our student body to talk about difficult subjects, and we encourage those who have not been exposed to these perspectives to attend the events on campus this month.
The constructive conversations around intangible issues, as well as the tangible successes, perpetuate a positive campus culture that make Hamilton a worthwhile experience.