The year 2020, understandably, feels a long way off for students.
In nine years, we will graduate, probably move (maybe more than once) and start a new life.
With that in mind, it's easy to think the goals of the DePauw 2020 plan are irrelevant to our futures. But that is far from true.
We are DePauw students now, and after the next four Mays, we will all be DePauw graduates. The fact of the matter is we will always be DePauw somethings.
The name will stamped on our diploma, our resumes, job applications, or at the very least, our personal histories. Wherever we go, the name will follow.
The reputation speaks not just to our employers, but the friends and family members we have yet to meet in our lives. Those of us that have children will, one day, help them choose the school that fits best and will positively influence their lives, both personal and professional.
Will our children want to go to DePauw? Will we want them to? Will it still provide the education we sought when we came here? Might it offer something better?
The purpose of the 2020 plan is to ensure that the answers to these questions are a definitive "yes."
From sprucing up the campus to improving our relationship with the city of Greencastle, this is a very tangible gesture by the university administration showing its commitment to self improvement.
It's almost impossible to stroll down College Street and picture a complete abscence cars driving by, or to walk through the overcrowded Hub and imagine a Hogwarts-esque dining hall.
Whether we believe these plans will actually take root or not, we should at least have an interest.
Considering jobs, fellowships, grad school applications and even potential baby Tigers in the distant future, we should care about DePauw's future as members of the community.
We have given a significant portion of some of the most formative years of our life to this university. And whether or not we recognize it, the university has given much to us — our first opportunities to see a new continent, our career paths, the upending or reinforcing of our worldviews or our friends.
Giving back to DePauw doesn't have to mean a check. It can be as simple as caring enough to provide substantive input for a better future.
Write to the editorial board at: edboard@thedepauw.com