If you didn’t get a chance to visit your residential quad, don’t bother now. The box area surrounded by Schmidt, University, Sanderson, Wayne and Killinger Halls is now under construction. Even though the Quad is not used by everyone, for many students, it is the first thing they see when they wake up. As you may know, the quad is being demolished to give way to new suite-style residence halls. As great as this might sound, it is a big inconvenience to many students. The entire quad is blocked off, not allowing students to cut through by any means.
I am going to miss the beautifully cut lawn, a place where many students call their backyard. I am going to miss the fact that I can get to my classes on time instead of taking a more scenic route around the various holes and pieces of construction equipment – thus resulting in tardiness for my next class. If you haven’t a clue what I am talking about, take a look at West Chester’s beloved residential quad, or seemingly lack thereof. The quad was a place where many students could rest, relax and study. Now students will have to find a new lawn to lie upon.
It is such a wonderful feeling to wake up to the sounds of construction at 8 a.m. every day, especially on the first day of classes. When I was a first-year student, I lived in the grand and fabulous Wayne Hall – street-side mind you. Similar to this year, I had a nice alarm clock, but last year the tone was the screeching and churning noises of the WCU buses, or the clamor of the garbage trucks to empty the massive dumpsters outside of Wayne. (On the topic of dumpsters, I highly enjoyed the natural and pungent scent of trash that would constantly permeate through the windows. Or did I enjoy the smell of smoke better? I can’t remember.) When I went to room rampage at the end of that year, I thought to myself, I cannot have a street-side dorm again. Now had I known about the construction starting in the beginning of the spring semester, I might have thought otherwise.
Now don’t get me wrong, I think it is lovely that West Chester is upgrading from residence halls to suite-style living, but why is construction beginning now? It is the middle of January, and it is snowing outside as I am typing. I can only imagine how fun it is to dig a hole in the snow. But I don’t mind; if it means that these buildings will be erected and fully operational when they are intended to be, keeping digging in that snow. Another question, why weren’t we told about this construction? I mean, I knew that West Chester was building new dorms, but I was under the impression they would not start until the summer or the end of spring semester. I found out when I walked into my room and had two pieces of paper slipped underneath my door illustrating the new “round-about-route” for the destroyed Quad.
Most of the student body has not been updated as to what is going on with the school. West Chester seems to forget that we are buying customers in their business of education. Don’t we deserve to know what’s going on with our campus? Why is the entire operation pretty much a secret from the rest of the students? As a University Ambassador, it is hard for me to share the university with high school students when I really do not know the construction plans, or the future of the university. For example, Old Swope -when is that one going to be done? Or are they still sucking out the asbestos that is still interlaced into the framework of that building? Am I ever going to walk into that building before I graduate? Probably not. I find this lack of university-to-student rapport very frustrating and disappointing.
But I do know that I will be extremely upset if I graduate from West Chester and never have a quad to relax in again.
Derek Ansel is a second-year student majoring in cell and molecular biology with a psychology minor. He can be reached at DA633313@wcupa.edu.