This past Wednesday, Stevens held the Illumination Ceremony for the new University Towers in which they quite literally lit up a sign reading “STEVENS” across the top of one of the towers. In neon red color, the sign surely makes a statement on who these buildings and the campus they inhabit belong to.
The sign is just that: a statement. The very fact that it faces outwards towards the Hudson, and not in towards campus, verifies that it’s about power. Although I can’t attest to this, I assume that Manhattanites across the water would be able to see the giant “STEVENS” when it’s lit up at night. It’s a way to mark the Stevens name, establish territory, and claim that Stevens is great because we have a big red sign.
But as I’m sure we all know by now, Stevens has its issues, just as almost every university does. Brown University recently hosted large-scale outdoor events which incited backlash from students concerned about safety during the pandemic. Students at Manhattanville College started a petition in response to administration mishandling safety precautions and transparency. I’m sure we can all think of a decision Stevens administrators made that we disagreed with. My point: no institution is perfect.
And yet while we scowl and complain about Stevens, we become campus tour guides, ambassadors for schools and colleges, speakers at university events. We put our education on our resumes and nod our heads in agreement when job recruiters are impressed we go to Stevens. When Accepted Students Weekend rolls around every Spring, we suddenly become the biggest fans of Stevens ever, showing prospective students just how great Stevens can be.
I’m not necessarily saying this is a bad thing, just interesting. Often I feel like students either hate Stevens or love it, and there’s no in-between. Or, they go back and forth between hating and loving. But I am in what I believe is the healthy in-between: I love my program of study at Stevens; I love Hoboken; I love my professors and mentors; but I also acknowledge that there’s a lot of things wrong, just as there are in many universities. Show me a school with no students complaining about administrative decisions, and I’ll be shocked. It’s kind of just the way things go.
So I ask the question: should Stevens be lighting up? I don’t know. I think there are a lot of things that need to be addressed, but I will admit that the University Towers does address some of those things: housing, campus space for students, a bigger fitness center, etc. Stevens is clearly working on ticking off those checkboxes on the laundry list of things to fix, but sometimes I feel like there is not enough urgency with issues. The Quiet Space took too long to establish. The add/drop period recently ended and P.E. credit requirements for students graduating soon is still unknown. Shuttles for students living off-campus are currently not running, forcing many students to walk at night after classes or club events. Administration gave a very vague response to students denouncing the Gianforte Family Hall, an issue that has been ongoing for years.
But this is why I love being a part of The Stute, or just a newspaper in general. Our purpose is to exist within this in-between of revealing the good and bad of Stevens. The design of the front page of this issue (Friday, September 24, 2021) was carefully thought out to highlight that while Stevens puts on the Illumination Ceremony, students are still complaining of problems. Stevens is making a statement to the outside world with the big red sign, but maybe, they should focus inwards.
The Stute Editorial is an Opinion column written by the current Editor in Chief of The Stute to address and explain editorial decision making, discuss news and media issues, and develop a sense of trust and transparency between readers and members of The Stute.
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