I thought that college was going to be more accepting than high school.
I thought that people here were going to be supportive of one another, or at least respectful of the hard work that their peers were putting into their activities.
Clearly, I was wrong.
When I found out that people had torn down a few posters for "The Rocky Horror Show," the fall musical this year, I was a little upset. However, it was not until a banner that was located outside of the Green Center for Performing Arts for the show was not only torn down, but someone had physically taken a pair of scissors and cut it up, that I became angry. That banner cost $40. Add that to the countless posters that have been torn down or damaged for no good reason, and the number rises.
This is not just about theater. When the football team lost its first home game 45-0 to Wittenburg University, students showed no mercy. I understand that it is disheartening to lose by that much, especially for our first game, but that does not make it okay for the team to receive that much ridicule and mockery. The fact that we lost does not mean that the team has not been working hard in practice, nor does it mean that they have not been working hard to improve since then.
Would you be upset if someone began vandalizing a piece of artwork that you had worked so hard to create? If your own classmates started to 'boo' you on the field? If people began laughing at you while you were giving a class presentation? These actions are unnecessarily hurtful, so why do we continue to act like this? Breaking each other down like that is going to do nothing but hurt people. We are not in high school anymore, and we should stop acting as if we are.
The bottom line is that we have a respect issue on our campus. Not everyone can like theater. I understand that. I recognize that some people would feel uncomfortable seeing the "The Rocky Horror Show," especially considering the fact that it deals with instances of transsexuality and homosexuality.
However, that does not constitute people going around and damaging posters that people took time out of their day to design and put up. Losing 45-0 sucks, but that does not mean that the football team deserves the scorn that it has gotten. The lack of maturity on this campus disappoints me. I only hope that people will learn to respect and support one another soon, because if we cannot cheer each other on, then we are not the college that we pride ourselves on.
With this, I am not trying to bash on the school, per se. I want to advocate for change. DePauw is an amazing place, but if we can perform the simple task of changing our spirits so as to be a little more supportive of one another, it can be even greater. I think that, as a school, we are better than tearing down signs and making fun of one another. Now we just have to show it.
- Block is a freshman from Glen VIew, Ill. whose major is undeclared.