To the Editor:
As I’m sure you are aware, Homecoming was this past weekend. The event could not have been better executed and could not have been more ignored by the student body. While the Student Alumni Association did an excellent job of executing the event, the problem is on a higher level of planning and direction. The administration has given us an event in which Fairfield sports teams play themselves, and there is no event for the students, minimizing student and alumni interaction. It’s hard to get excited about playing yourself. Unless homecoming is made real to current students, no student will harbor fond memories of homecoming as an event. If no one enjoys homecoming as a student, there will never be a significant amount of alumni returning for the event, and homecoming will remain in its comatose state. I once heard an upperclassman inquire, “Oh, isn’t that just a bunch of old guys getting drunk behind alumni hall?” If this does not demonstrate the dismissive attitude of Fairfield students toward homecoming, especially Stagtoberfest, I don’t know what does. The lack of homecoming as an effective event is indicative of a problem of Fairfield identity. Little other than drinking seems to unify our student body, and the failure of events like homecoming to include students, reinforces the death of a sense of tradition, and pride among the student body. Homecoming has great potential to increase Fairfield’s identity, increase annual giving and just be an all around good time, but if alumni and administration officials continue to alienate the student body this will never happen. After all, this is a university, and it wouldn’t exist without us.
Sincerely, Michael Meehan ’08 Inter-Residence Hall Assembly President
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