2008 Woodie Awards
editorial
Issue date: 10/10/07 Section: Opinions
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Winter Carnival tradition wounded by calendar revisions
In a rare outburst of excitement at the weekly Community Council meeting on Monday, student representatives to the Council balked at plans to discard an all-school holiday on the Friday prior to the College's Winter Carnival. The day off will be rescheduled starting in 2009 to coincide with a student research symposium in April.
The decision is a strong blow levied against the College's Winter Carnival. The event - the oldest and largest student-run carnival in the country - has been a beloved institution at the College for 84 years, and while attendance at ski races has lagged in recent years, the unique blend of athletics events and social and cultural programming that characterizes the Carnival has long wowed students, alumni and community members. In a much-appreciated departure from strictly academic enterprises, the annual event fosters school spirit and good-natured play.
The scheduling switch-up stems from a recommendation buried in the hefty tome that constitutes the 2006 Strategic Plan and, unsurprisingly, drew less initial attention after the Plan's adoption than big-ticket efforts to lower the faculty-student ration and boost financial aid offerings. The Board of Trustees approved the more specific changes to the College's academic calendar in May. Few, if any, students knew about the slated change, and Community Council's discussion on Monday only highlighted the fact that the larger community wields no leverage in this debate.
The College already lacks the multitude of long-held traditions that our neighboring schools so fervently love. Fostering new intellectual traditions in the form of student symposia is a laudable goal, but when these new traditions come at the cost of old ones, spirit on campus suffers. Winter Carnival's singularity deserves special recognition, and this scheduling change will, unfortunately, cripple the integrity of the carnival weekend.
Commons party deserves deeper conversations
In a rare outburst of excitement at the weekly Community Council meeting on Monday, student representatives to the Council balked at plans to discard an all-school holiday on the Friday prior to the College's Winter Carnival. The day off will be rescheduled starting in 2009 to coincide with a student research symposium in April.
The decision is a strong blow levied against the College's Winter Carnival. The event - the oldest and largest student-run carnival in the country - has been a beloved institution at the College for 84 years, and while attendance at ski races has lagged in recent years, the unique blend of athletics events and social and cultural programming that characterizes the Carnival has long wowed students, alumni and community members. In a much-appreciated departure from strictly academic enterprises, the annual event fosters school spirit and good-natured play.
The scheduling switch-up stems from a recommendation buried in the hefty tome that constitutes the 2006 Strategic Plan and, unsurprisingly, drew less initial attention after the Plan's adoption than big-ticket efforts to lower the faculty-student ration and boost financial aid offerings. The Board of Trustees approved the more specific changes to the College's academic calendar in May. Few, if any, students knew about the slated change, and Community Council's discussion on Monday only highlighted the fact that the larger community wields no leverage in this debate.
The College already lacks the multitude of long-held traditions that our neighboring schools so fervently love. Fostering new intellectual traditions in the form of student symposia is a laudable goal, but when these new traditions come at the cost of old ones, spirit on campus suffers. Winter Carnival's singularity deserves special recognition, and this scheduling change will, unfortunately, cripple the integrity of the carnival weekend.
Commons party deserves deeper conversations
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