Recently I found myself walking around campus as I had an extra half hour or so between classes.  I decided to take the opportunity to wander through some buildings on campus that I either had never been in or had never spent much time in. What I saw was a horribly large gap of attention between nice, updated buildings, and ones which have seen better days like the one I spend most of my time in, Coleman.

Many buildings on campus experience neglect and it’s something that students notice. Talking with other students, I have come to find that it is not just my beloved Coleman which seems to be suffering but other students’ buildings that they too care about are being underappreciated as well.

I’m not saying that the extravagant and well-endowed buildings on campus don’t deserve the treatment they have received.  By all means, every building and department deserves the best, I’m just pointing out how unequal the attention given to them feels without any animosity towards the better buildings.

I also understand the financial crisis of sorts that our school is experiencing.  However, one of the problems is student enrollment, and I’ll be honest, when I first came to Eastern I had no desire to attend.  However, when I switched my career field at the last minute it was the only non-film oriented school I had applied to. 

What had made it unappealing to me was the state that many of the buildings that I knew I would be taking my general education classes in were.  Compared to other campuses I had visited, ours seemed old and out of date.

If you want students to be successful, you have to treat them like you expect them to be successful. By putting students in a building that is worn out and forgotten, you’re basically telling them that they are forgotten as well.

When I walk into a classroom where half the windows are jammed shut, the paint is cracking in the corners, the desks don’t match, the crown molding has been hastily screwed in through the front, and the furniture looks like it’s been here since my grandfather went here, I am not inspired to learn.

Luckily for Eastern, we have an amazing, dedicated, and genuinely devoted faculty.  When I seriously considered transferring my freshman year, it was the environment that they created–certainly not the physical–that kept me here.

Putting even a minimal amount of money towards updating neglected buildings, including residence and dining halls, making them look more modern and taken care of could go a long way.

Kaycie Brauer  is a senior English major.  She can be reached at 581-2812 or denopinions@gmail.com.