I HAVE met some of the most driven, dedicated, funny and creative students of the University. They meet in relative obscurity every week planning and implementing student-oriented functions and social events. Not enough people know about the four class councils, and not enough people know what they're missing.
Many organizations here at the University are filled with these driven and hardworking students, and conduct business in similar obscurity; the class councils are no different.
There are four separate class councils -- the First-, Second- and Third-Year Councils, and the Fourth-Year Class Trustees. Just as they sound, are the groups of students responsible for working within their respective class. Class council is not a governing body like the traditional Student Council, but rather an organizational group. The Councils work to organize and fund events to enrich an entire class's four-year experience at the University. Students plan for their classmates everything from class dinners in the Rotunda, to coffee with a professor in the Garden Room, to caroling in the University Hospital at Christmas time. In essence, the Councils plan and fund the entertainment for their class.
The University Alumni Association and the Office of the Dean of Students collectively give $12,000 per year to each council -- $48,000 in total. By helping make a current student's time at the University memorable and enjoyable, they hope to reap the benefits of grateful alumni donations in the years to come.
Every class council has one focus, one ambitious mission: to provide unity to an entire class. It is the goal of the class council to provide their classmates the opportunity to know their colleagues, to reach out and meet the individuals they one day will walk down the Lawn with.
It is our responsibility as members of our class to take part in these events. Whatever money the Councils don't spend, they lose. And when students don't attend events, it makes it difficult to spend that much money effectively.
Too few students take advantage of the councils' events. We wonder sometimes how many people even know the councils exist, not to mention their considerable difference from Student Council.
For example, last year, Third-Year Class Council held the first ever Ring Ceremony here at the University. The event, which had been meticulously planned and advertised for the better part of the fall semester, was completely free to all third years, and was one of the few remaning opportunities for the Class of 2001 to all sit down together as a class before graduation. Attractive walnut ring boxes engraved with the seal of the University were given to students as their names were announced to be congratulated by Asst. Dean of Students Aaron Laushway. And yet, out of a class of close to 3,000 students only around 500 students participated.
Participation numbers in other class events are even less encouraging. Only about 20 percent of students actually take advantage of their class council's planned events.
You wouldn't think that University students are complacent people. They're at one of the top universities in the country, pursuing a rigorous education.
So what explains the poor level of involvement? These events basically are throwing free stuff at students, and yet they still must struggle with involvement. It's a tough question to answer. The University is full of students who were involved in high school, and who, by all indicators, are motivated and driven people. And yet, apathy, not only in class council events, but also across the board, is rampant.
Every organization struggles with involvement. It is the key to enjoying college. I know that when I sit back and reflect on cavalier days gone by, or tell stories to my children of these wild college years, it will be the lessons I learned far from the classroom that will make me smile, and that I will remember the most vividly. Don't sit by and allow four years of endless possibilities to be spent in a drunken stupor, or even buried in the basement of Clemons Library. Meet your classmates and share experiences with them.
Every organization is given a portion of the money you pay in tuition and fees. It's your money, now is your time. Get involved in your class, get involved in your interests, and get involved in your University. These years will only be as grand as you make them.
(Luke Ryan is vice president of the Third-Year Class Council.)
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