One month from now, DePauw will blow out the candles on another birthday cake. This time, 175 candles will mark the university's unique place among historic and preeminent institutions. On the eve of this landmark anniversary, we look back at a small portion of our university's many years and offer our take on the many years to come.
The fall of 2011 witnessed challenges to campus unity, building construction and destruction, an invigorated branding campaign and even the cardboard beginnings of a new entrance to campus.
The relocation of the Office of Admissions across Seminary Street to the Emison Museum was a seemingly straightforward physical change of location. But that move will mean a transformed vision of DePauw for prospective students and their families. Emison's new steps open up the otherwise cold building to a warm campus and provide a new space for conversation and a welcoming thoroughfare. (The metal doors look a little weird, though.)
Yo-Yo Ma and Bill Clinton, among others, touched down in Greencastle this semester. Somehow, we've grown accustomed to the extraordinary. The Ubbens and other generous alumni bring the world to DePauw. We need only walk outside our doors to experience it.
Still, these events only represent a part of the DePauw experience. And while we are pleased with the progress DePauw has made this semester, there are always ways to improve.
Questions of tolerance divided the DePauw community over the past months as many students grappled with allegations of hate speech and discrimination. The campus climate discussions mark a positive first step, but they're only the beginning to solving a much deeper problem. Students, faculty and administrators share an equal burden in this charge. We are all responsible.
The university, too, must catch up with its accumulated deferred maintenance, now tagged at several million dollars. The financial strength of an institution is severely undermined when its facilities fall into disrepair.
Student-to-faculty ratio and class sizes should always be under scrutiny. An intimate classroom environment and close relationships between students and faculty are hallmarks of a DePauw education. But classes of 20-30 students don't always allow for that interaction. We understand professors don't come cheap — and they probably deserve to be paid more — but we're dangerously close to violating a main selling point for the university.
New athletic facilities should also more to the top of DePauw's to-do list. If we want our teams to compete for national championships, they need the means to do so. Even without the facilities with which their competitors are often supported, our teams have excelled. Let's give them the necessary boost to reach the next level.
There have been struggles over the course of the last semester, but ultimately, we've grown as a community. DePauw will continue to develop and shift. In the meantime, let's wake up our own DePauw pride and show support for the things we care about.
We should be proud of how far we've come, even over the last semester. And we can't wait to see what comes next.