DePauw students are supposed to be a great representation of passionate, forward-thinking young-adults. But we are wondering where those great thinkers have disappeared to, and why superficial discussion and events have been allowed to take over the campus.
In a recent editorial, we praised Generation Y for being a proactive group of social movers who are not afraid to approach relevant issues in liberal fashion. But in the midst of the vicious cycle of a busy DePauw student's life, we believe students are not living up to that expectation. We are not taking enough time in our day-to-day madness to think about what's happening around us, thus, inhibiting us from making positive change.
As we reflect on the various causes DePauw students strive to help, we fear that the cause itself gets lost in our daily commitments and instead becomes trivialized.
We are presented with plenty of opportunities to provide service to local and global problems and we commend the student body for their efforts. However, in the midst of planning great events for campus-wide involvement and large donations, we forget to discuss and educate one another on these causes that were once something we were ambitiously committed to. We have turned it into a money-exchanging means of support and a "check" off the to-do list rather than a campus-wide understanding and passion for service and proactivity.
Consider the difference of philanthropy and service. Philanthropy is a vicarious experience and a means for donations, while service is the more direct and active way of contributing to a cause. Instead of thinking about attendance at events to raise money, let's refocus towards discussion and rediscovering our passion for things that matter.
In theory, we're the generation that will conquer social issues. We can't do that by solely raising money. There also needs to be a service and action aspect. Our actions will change things, not just our money.
We fear that this hectic environment has inhibited students' critical eye on campus. This leads to events that have lost focus on their purpose in the first place.While we are busy with things that are plenty important, we as an Editorial Board believe we need to spend more time discussing, listening and being proactive.
As much as we want to do creative, fun things to get the campus involved, we should maybe redirect attention to what the philanthropies actually are and what the causes we support are in the first place. We return to discussion, and in turn become more educated.
It's easy to run from class to campus event to organization meeting and catch up with friends on the weekends. It's hard to step back and recognize the superficiality of our campus culture and facilitate discussion on tougher topics. We encourage our peers to separate themselves from the business and think about what they value and where they focus their energy. Individual as well as group reflection can certainly lead to a critically thinking campus.
We all know how to think before we act, but we're not giving ourselves time to think