FROM THEIR first stroll down the brick walkways flanking the Lawn, new University students fall in love with the breathtaking splendor of Mr. Jefferson's Academical Village. As they furtively sneak a look inside open Lawn doors, many of these talented students think, "I want that to be my room one day." Ambition is a good thing -- it makes gifted students challenge themselves and learn how to compete with similarly talented people. But the Lawn incentive has created an unhealthy level of competition among the best and the brightest, making every University activity a Gladiator-like struggle to win not only executive office in organizations but in some cases mere membership, such as in volunteer organizations with extreme space limitations. The University would benefit from students dedicating themselves to, at most, two organizations each because this would increase the quality of participation and help students maintain sanity and perspective in the process. Résumé padding shouldn't trump quality involvement.
First of all, the system isn't functioning correctly when volunteering becomes a cutthroat competition. Many students assume that volunteer work is a requisite component of a strong Lawn application. Thus, students line up outside of Madison House at six in the morning at the beginning of each semester, sometimes waiting until noon to enroll in a volunteer activity. Karina Nieto, a third year College student, was one of the students who waited from dawn until noon to secure a two-hour volunteer shift at the hospital. She said that this sort of competition "dissuades people from volunteering." Of course, space is limited within each program, and it is hard to accommodate every pre-med student who wants to volunteer at the hospital. With that said, I am sure that with a little effort, these programs could expand and provide creative ways to involve eager students who will work for nothing more than a line on the résumé. For example, Madison House could organize a group of students interested in medicine whose sole purpose is to visit with elderly patients. Lack of creativity, not limited space, is the sole reason for turning away volunteer time and labor.
The University Guide Service is a prime example of a philanthropic organization as concerned with exclusivity and prestige as they are with historical factoids. According to an article in The Cavalier Daily earlier this week ("What's in a Guide?" Sept. 25), of the 232 students this semester who led trial tours, 24 were welcomed into the exclusive organization. Surely UGuides could develop and improve their group by creating a committee to research recent history of Central Grounds or having a group of students lead tours in a foreign language. These would be great ways to improve the quality and the inclusiveness of the University Guide Service without sacrificing anyone's all-important ego. On the other hand, the exclusivity of the group is probably its greatest recruitment tool. Students at the University thrive on competition, and this burning desire to succeed is only further fueled by "Lawn lust." Indeed, the problem of extracurricular inclusiveness and commitment is more systemic than any particular organization's exclusivity.
Students should reform and reanalyze what we think it means to be an active, contributing member of the University. It is unnecessary, as well as exhausting, to be a member of five different organizations, and competitive students would channel their energy better by devoting themselves to and increasing their involvement in fewer organizations. Not just nominal involvement, but using their creative minds to discover ways to further the goals of the specific organization. The best way to achieve this is by reforming the Lawn Selection Committee. In addition to asking for a laundry list of club involvement, the Committee should include an essay question about what the applicant specifically contributed to one organization. Being president or chair of a club really doesn't matter if you're too busy to spend time with members and plan time-consuming -- but invaluable -- events.
Many students love the various organizations in which they're involved and would hate to give any of them up. But when a student is elected to an executive position, he or she takes on a duty to serve and better that specific organization. True stewardship often necessitates sacrifice.
If all of our top students who dream of living on the Lawn were to commit themselves wholeheartedly to fewer organizations, the overall impact would be tremendous. Every organization would have an even more energetic leadership. So, dream big. But in the words of Fitzgerald's Nick Carraway, don't become "that most limited of all specialists -- the well-rounded man."
Marta Cook's column appears Wednesdays in The Cavalier Daily. She can be reached at mcook@cavalierdaily.com.
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