My friend and I went to our first football game our senior year of high school. Her boyfriend was an executive of the school’s student government; they met at a leadership camp over the summer which produced so many relationships, we called the phenomenon “from leadership comes love.” We both attended a very small school with no sports, so we were blown away when we saw the bleachers packed with hundreds of students that blended together in a noisy sea of school colors. At halftime, the Associated Student Government president delivered a speech in total silence, followed by a deafening cheer. I had never seen so much school spirit in my life! We could never achieve even a quarter of this enthusiasm despite putting in twice as much work as their governement. Why?! Was it because we were smaller; had less money? Why did their student body care and ours didn’t? The answer was right in front of me; sports.Sports help create a culture at schools that provides a platform for ASG to work off which caters to the student body. Games, rallies, homecoming—sports help generate half of school events not to mention school spirit. Sports are also a big part of college life, as are parties, and together they help define the culture of a college campus. And the student government becomes the face of school spirit and these events which helps get the students’ attention. And when people listen to them, they are able to get out important information, things that benefit the students even if they don’t care about it. But it’s having a defined culture that allows the student government to appeal to the students and make them listen. So, what’s BC’s culture?
Well, clearly it’s the sports. Wait, we have sports? Oh…OK, maybe not then. But if it’s not the sports, it must be the hoppin’ party scene. Who wants to sneak into the C Building on a Friday night and play a rousing game of beer pong? No one? OK, clearly not our thing either. But if sports and parties don’t help define our culture, what does?
Nothing. The sad truth is that BC doesn’t have a culture, and that’s our problem. Granted it’s difficult to establish a culture at a commuter school where most people come to leave.
It’s easy to complain that no one cares, but the problem is that they haven’t been given a reason to care. Holding Associated Student Government debates in areas with high traffic isn’t going to increase interest—it’s just going to force candidates to speak to a room full of people not listening. And they don’t deserve that; they deserve complete silence followed by a deafening cheer, because the ASG does hundreds of things that better all of our experiences at BC; just no one cares about them.
The ASG needs to define BC’s culture. It is by no means an easy feat, but unless we have something to care about, people are going to continue not to listen. This school consists of many individuals, not a community. There is no school spirit, nothing to be excited about. The ASG is here to serve the student body, so give us something care about, to be spirited about, to cheer on, and to love—together. From leadership comes love; and we need to show BC some love.
