Students returning to campus this year have met a variety of changes, some for the better, but many more for the worse. Unavoidable budget cuts and layoffs have taken away some of the best-liked parts and people of the campus. Meanwhile changes to the parking policy on campus, while possibly inevitable, have left students and faculty frustrated.

But more important than any of the losses to the declining economy is the loss of a professor who stood out among the faces on campus: John Orman. This prolific politics teacher was more than just that. He inspired many to graduate and helped thousands of students throughout his years at Fairfield. The loss of Orman will forever be felt on campus, more than any change that was made this summer.

When put into perspective, it’s silly to complain about the fact that faculty members now have to park in specific places, possibly farther away from classes. It’s harder for sophomores to complain about not having a car on campus. It also feels weird to mourn the loss of chicken Parmesan grinders from Rob and Iggy’s in the Stag. Those small parts of life become miniscule compared to the fact that a person can be taken from us so suddenly.

Although the changes on campus may be minor in comparison to the death of a beloved professor, it would be wrong to stop complaining, wrong to stop asking why the changes were made, because that is not what Orman would want. The ultimate protestor, Orman lived his life asking questions, going against the system when he saw a wrong. He practiced what he preached in 2006, running against Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman and creating an anti-Lieberman party when he was dismayed by Lieberman’s practices.
In honor of Orman, we must keep fighting for the right changes, not just change for the sake of change. Less parking on campus may help the environment, but is it right to make it harder for a struggling sophomore to get to a job in town by taking away cars? Is it right to lay-off a member of the Fairfield community and then spend money on flat screen televisions in the Barone Campus Center, or a $70,000 Stag statue?

Maybe the changes made this summer will turn out to be the right choices. But one thing is for sure, the loss of John Orman will forever leave a void in the Fairfield campus community, one that can never be really filled. But the least we can do is try to keep his legacy of disapproving of and speaking out against both global and local injustice.

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