The campus ghost-town effect that sets in at approximately 6:00 p.m. each Thursday has boggled the minds of CCSU administrators for years. Attempts to make the campus appear more ‘cool’ have been futile as students have consistently chosen off-campus as their weekend residence. The recent Labor Day weekend proves this observation undoubtedly: students have no desire to stay on campus.
Despite seemingly staged queries from University officials, solving this problem does not appear to be a priority. For example, take a student who wishes to hang out in Breakers on Saturday night. After getting out of work at 9:00 p.m., the student skips down the hill towards the student center. But to his surprise, the student center is tightly locked and any attempts to play billiards will be met with door alarms and subsequent arrest.
Swamped with work for her political science class, another student tries to get into the library the Friday before Labor Day around 5:00 p.m. This student will find the campus center of academic research closed to students until Tuesday.
Memorial Hall’s weekend and holiday hours are equally egregious, as are the student center’s. Students looking to meet with friends or catch up on their studies this weekend were often greeted with locked doors and disappointment.
Fast forward in time to the weeks of midterm and final exams. Students know that campus resources will be available at virtually any hour, and use them accordingly. This system of supply and demand does not fit in an academic institution. The reality is that students do homework and study at all hours throughout the entire year, not just during midterm and final exams.
We believe this particular practice reinforces a culture of procrastination, one where emphasis is only placed on the final ‘report card’ results rather than a rigorous educational process. Further, we believe this practice upholds a toxic cycle in which student involvement on campus is perpetually threatened by the lack of access to campus facilities.
In light of our current fiscal crisis, we understand that public spending on academic institutions is not a top priority, but we also do not see fiscal responsibility and an open campus policy as rival schools of thought. Quite the contrary, we believe that a leaner organization can create an opportunity for University officials to ensure students have access to the facilities that can empower them to succeed at CCSU.
True success at a liberal arts university is not judged by development in the classroom alone. Involvement in activities, campus organizations and thoughtful socialization all play a role. An expansion of campus access for students will stimulate this development and begin to solve the mystery of the aforementioned ‘ghost-town’ phenomenon.
An initial investment must be made to improve the campus culture at CCSU. Once that investment is made, we believe that students, faculty and administrators will begin to see life again at this university. The selling point for such an initiative is simple and persuasive, and it is this: the road to a more open campus begins with open doors.
