Somewhere between problem and solution, our wonderful university finds it fairly easy to go past solution and create a new problem.
Problem: First-year males hate having to park on the top two levels of the Moody Garage.
Solution: Make the entire garage available to the new Mustangs.
SMUlution: Put them in the Dedman 3 lot where criminals can pick their cars like cherries.
Problem: Dedman Center is out-dated. The university is in dire need of a new one.
Solution: Make the center the next priority in the campus’ master plan.
SMUlution: Give students what they want and tax them for it without a direct student vote.
These are fairly large issues and the debate could rage on for a very long time. However, it can often be the little things – the very minute details that are a reflection of impetuous decision-making at the most important levels.
Problem: School spirit is down.
Solution: Make students love a university by showing them that the university loves them. Make them feel valued, welcomed and like they are a part of something big. Listen to them.
SMUlution: Play Varsity, the alma mater, and the Fight Song when someone on the phone puts you on hold.
Students and faculty are subjected to listening to these dear pieces every time someone says “Hold on a moment.” The very words strike fear in the hearts of everyone who calls this campus. People are grasping at whatever silence they can get before the melodies begin.
Not only have we irritated each other, we have placed minimal value on numbers that should be held dear to the hearts of all who have been inducted into the SMU family, as dysfunctional as it may be.
We argue, we fight and we complain. Ed Board vocalizes much of those sentiments, sometimes coming off as a cynical and over-critical body of faceless individuals.
We’re in the suggestion business, as well.
If this university wants to have the amount of school spirit that some schools boast, then we must take pride in our traditions. We can’t walk on the Dallas Hall seal. We have to learn the words to Varsity, take off our hats and raise our pony ears as it plays. And we must never, ever reduce its value to that of elevator music. What seemed like a novel idea only dillutes the effectiveness and solemnity of our traditions.
Whatever music you play when you put someone on hold is going to be hated. If students at SMU begin to dread the Fight Song or Varsity, we have taken a step back in our evolution as a university community.
This is about more than hold music. It’s about tradition, in addition to respecting and valuing students enough to ask their opinions. Students knew the Dedman 3 lot was nothing more than a trespasser’s shopping aisle. Students knew that our recreational facility was inadequate for a university of our stature.
Students know that spirit on campus is low – but leave it to us to fix it. We can make a few phone calls as long as they promise not to put us on hold.
