 "Photo: Photo courtesy of flickr.com")
Apathy at Quinnipiac University is a continuously recycled, rehashed and reused news item on campus. The news stories that reference the school’s unfortunate, if not shameful, ranking on the Princeton Review’s “Election? What Election?” number in the hundreds. Both The Chronicle and The Quad News are guilty of it. But as my time here comes to an end I must acknowledge the progress which has been made. Even though Quinnipiac continues to feel isolated from global, national and even regional affairs, the engagement in the internal politics and culture of this campus has grown rapidly.
During the last four years I have seen the creation and expansion of dozens of organizations built on the passions of Quinnipiac students. Relay for Life, the Quinnipiac Film Society, Quixotic (QU’s literary society), Sophia (QU’s philosophy society), the Young Americans for Liberty and The Quad News have all been established in the last four years. Other organizations have extended their reach, including the Quinnipiac Democrats, the Society for Life and Justice, WAVE, SIFE and the International Business Society. There are dozens of other student run organizations which have continued to make a positive impact on this campus and elsewhere.
The motivation for this passion did not come from the administration, the deans, the professors or even student government. The motivation came directly from the students and their desire to create their own unique culture at Quinnipiac as well as make their own mark upon the school. This drive needs to continue and it must come from the students. Students must be self-motivated to promote the values they hold true, teach the lessons they feel must be learned and take action on the issues they believe are relevant.
Last semester, a fellow student brought up a conversation he had with a professor who has been with the school for many years. The professor had seen the school expand from a small college to the university it is now. The professor witnessed the improvement of academic standards for both students and the various schools of study. This professor also carefully followed the growth of student culture here at Quinnipiac.
This professor felt that years ago the school’s environment was not ready for a truly unique student culture, one built on the politics, art and ideas of the time. The professor felt that now, in this later stage of Quinnipiac’s development, the university, the faculty and most importantly the students entering the school are ready to build this kind of culture. Quinnipiac is ready to create a culture that is not borrowed or manufactured but unique and specific to us.
Thankfully, this year’s review list of the most politically apathetic schools does not include Quinnipiac, but there are still challenges on the horizon. Quinnipiac was featured on the Princeton Review’s “Little Race/Class Interaction” and “Students Dissatisfied with Financial Aid” lists. Whether or not these lists matter is not important. What matters is that students at Quinnipiac now have the common culture to address these problems. They no longer have to wait around for the administration to take action.
On the university’s website there is a small blurb about the meaning of the word Quinnipiac. Native American tribal sources state that the word references “long water land or country,” so Quinnipiac could mean “people of the long water land”. Other research points to a different meaning, the website reads:
“Later sources claim the word Quinnipiac apparently derives from quinnuppin-uk, defined as ‘‘a turning point’ or ‘to make a change in the direction of travel.’”
This is what the veteran professor was conveying to my friend. Quinnipiac University has reached its turning point. We as a community are changing directions for the better. We are creating and moving toward a culture all our own. We are in the process of transforming apathy into action. Quinnipiac has a long way to go, but this change, this turning point, is the first step in a legacy I am very proud to be a part of.
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