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At crucial juncture, invest in UW

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Also by Suchita Shah:

Policy potholes halt AIDS progress (March 5, 2008)
Top court race needs fairness (February 27, 2008)
Mental health deserves parity (February 20, 2008)
Dorms need open-door policy (February 13, 2008)
McCain liberal? Give me a break (February 6, 2008)

by Suchita Shah

Wednesday, March 12, 2008

At a recent open forum soliciting input on the design of the new Union South, one of the architects posed a seemingly simple question: “What makes a place uniquely Wisconsin?” Initially, I thought it would be an easy question to answer. However, the pensive silence in the room underscored the challenge of self-reflection and the even greater challenge of converting the insight gained into visible change.

We are at a unique and exciting crossroads in the history of this university, a period of growth and transition toward the next era for University of Wisconsin. It is an era that will require us to embody the decennial reaccredidation team’s task of redefining what it means “to be a great public university in a changing world.”

We all claim we want change. However, at the risk of sounding trite, change is all around us, especially on campus. In five months, we will have a new chancellor. In five years, the Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery and a south campus union will transform the near-west campus. In five decades, I wouldn’t even attempt to give a campus tour, and I will probably be lost myself.

The change I speak of is more than just physical, however — it is also philosophical. The most recent state budget cycle has everyone rethinking the role of the public in a public institution of higher learning. The UW Foundation is dialing for dollars to retain faculty while the faculty members themselves are digging in their pockets to keep college affordable for low-income students.

Meanwhile, the regents are renewing their commitment to ensuring the comfort of all students, regardless of background, as they prepare a re-energized version of Plan 2008. And of course, all students will have to abide by a modified conduct code, one that truly embraces the Wisconsin Idea that the boundaries of the campus are the boundaries of the world.

Each of these examples could represent a fundamental change to what we define as uniquely UW, and “uniquely Wisconsin.” Add to the list the shifting philosophy of sustainability, new attitudes about segregated fees, debates about differential tuition, etc., and it is obvious that today’s UW is being transformed at a critical juncture.

In something akin to an “aha!” moment, I began noticing this change only recently, with just a few more months left in my undergraduate career. Is it that there is more change to be seen now compared to my freshman year? Perhaps. But it may be that I’m just noticing it more than I used to. Why didn’t I notice it before? What can we do to get others to see it, too?

I believe the answer lies in convincing ourselves and our fellow students that this multitude of change whirling around us does indeed impact us, and that it is our responsibility to steer our changing world in the best possible direction. There are plenty of individuals who say, “Yes, we can guide this change.” Take your pick of the almost 20,000 people who echoed that phrase at the Kohl Center last month.

Yet there were, at the most, a total of 20 students who came to the chancellor search committee’s open forums. And not even 15 people showed up to the listening session on the proposed changes to the conduct code. One can only guess the level of attendance at any of the upcoming Union building project sessions.

Is the general student population simply ignorant of the enormous change being wrought? Is it apathy, or is it complacence? To be honest, I might not have filled out the latest survey from the Union seeking student input had it not been for the chance to win a Terrace chair. And midterms and other far more exciting distractions are reason enough to not want to read the dense conduct statutes or the lengthy reaccredidation documents.

And there really is no point in any one of us getting involved or attempting to influence this change, right? Any one student will probably be out of here in four years. There is no reason he should care about a Union he will probably never use. And she will probably never meet the new chancellor or violate the modified misconduct code. Why should any of us care?

The answer goes back to the Union architect’s question: It’s the fact that we do care and that we do get involved that defines “Wisconsin” so distinctly. It is up to us as current students to preserve that unique quality as a constant during this era of tribulation and turnover. We cannot just sit back and watch this university change around us — we have to be the ones affecting it. If we desire change, we must work for it. This is our university. We are the public that supports it, we are the public that benefits from it, and we are the public that ought to be its steward.

Suchita Shah (sshah@badgerherald.com) is a senior majoring in neurobiology.

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Anonymous (March 12, 2008 @ 6:49am):

Well said, Suchita. It's good to see a senior setting a good example for younger members of the campus community. And, as a graduate student member of the reaccreditation team, I couldn't agree with you more.

Anonymous (March 12, 2008 @ 7:18pm):

Excellent article. You made me feel guilty about not going to the conduct policy meeting (I had too many excuses).

--Jack Garigliano (the guy who wrote about the conduct code changes but didn't attend the meeting)

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