What is Stevens missing? The answer to that depends on who you ask. Some environmental engineers will say worthwhile green initiatives to combat the wasteful sprinkler system and defective recycling practices. Computer scientists will find the archaic web services, including the course and housing selection systems, in need of the same #innovative renovation we constantly tout ourselves to be made of. It may seem as if these manifest in mere complaints, sprawled out through finely-worded posts on Facebook and coupled with silence when we ask ourselves, “What are we going to do about it?” Tellingly, it is only when students of multiple disciplines come together through organizing events, facilitating dialogue, and working in the face of apathetic adversity that impacts are felt campus-wide.
In that vein, we’d like to bring up another thing our university is missing: a strong arts culture. Its absence can be felt by engineers, business, and the science majors, who may only experience the humanities through underrated, required courses. It can be felt by CAL majors, who wish there was a welcoming outlet meeting them outside their small classes with limited opportunities for creativity. Mostly, it seems as if it’s an inherent feature of an increasingly STEM-reliant culture that leaves an expressive community to be fostered by professors and students shouldering these ideals on top of dejectedly participating in a demanding, and consequently alienating, collegiate education.
So how do we fix this? We start by creating welcoming opportunities for meaningful engagement with the arts. We work with organizations across Stevens—not just media, not just the performing arts—but larger collectives like Greek life and the ethnic student body to establish an inclusive environment. We invite participants that will ensure a voice for expression and not another for pessimism.
Next semester, we have that opportunity. With the lack of Boken, we have a chance to cultivate a campus-wide event based on music, art, and spoken work. Inviting not only those between our gates, but also expanding participation to Hoboken, New York City, and larger local communities, we can start a cultural discourse much larger than we could on our own. We have a plan, and if you’re willing, if you feel there’s something broken about your college experience, or if you want to add your voice to our collective dissonance, please join us at the SGA open forum at 7 p.m. in BC 122 and hear us out.
Written on behalf of Dan Aleman, Tara Annunziata, Tony Bevacqua, Hope Brandes, Evan Forman, Billie Haas, Bob Kessler, Kelsey Mayhew, Emma Murphy, and Andy Wiggins.
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