This semester’s club drive on Wednesday marks a great opportunity for CCSU students to finally get into action with campus life.
It’s no secret that most of CCSU operates on a go to class, go home basis. While it’s hard to blame students who work full time and go to school full time for opting out of campus activities, it’s also true that you can only get out of a school what you put into it. It’s no surprise that students so often lament and complain in class, on Twitter or or on Facebook about how CCSU is a below average school. It’s because no one is doing much to get involved.
The club drive this week offers students the opportunity to build something from what is often nothing and make CCSU a true college community. That’s exactly what CCSU’s new athletic director plans on doing. Athletic Director Paul Schlickmann speaks heavily about increasing not only the on-campus community but also the community in the surrounding New Britain neighborhoods.
Schlickmann even managed to get incoming freshmen to move in one day earlier than they normally would so he could hold an event on the football field trying to gear up freshmen for the upcoming fall athletic season. Schlickmann’s extra attention to a fresh group of students who haven’t yet been touched by the doldrums of CCSU student life should hopefully pay dividends in the near future as he attempts to turn football, men’s and women’s basketball and other Blue Devil sports into a true event again, much like other college campuses have been able to create. It seems like the only time anyone cares around here is when the men’s basketball team is vying for a March Madness birth.
But Schlickmann brings a positive attitude and good energy to the CCSU campus, one that should help push forward Blue Devil pride that will hopefully extend far past sports and into academics. Too often are students not proud of where they go to school. Sure, it’s not UConn, but just because one student goes to a larger, more prestigious school doesn’t mean they automatically are going to reap more benefits than a student who goes to a lower regarded school. What a student gets out of their school is relative to how much they put into it.
It’s not all doom and gloom on the CCSU campus. There are students on this campus that have recognized that, starting clubs and organizations to support their beliefs and protest other ones. And because of that their resumes will look pretty good come graduation time. An immediate example of proactive students that should spring to mind is the CCSU chapter of NORML, the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws. Whether you agree with their stance or not, it can’t be denied that their efforts thus far are outstanding. They’re a relatively new group and already they’ve organized two large on-campus events, one being a rally on April 20 and the other being a marijuana laws debate featuring a former magazine editor and an ex-DEA agent. This commitment to their group and campus life should be commended and modeled after.
It’s never too late to join a campus club or media group. There are plenty of opportunities to be had and they’ll be presented at Wednesday’s club fair. And if you have enough undergraduate time left, you can even attempt to start your own group. The opportunities are out there, you just have to want them.