FOCUS: Lonely at the top

Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them. But some, apparently, find ways to duck it entirely. Both students and administrators say that there has been a vacuum at the top of many student groups at the University. And, citing the recent Undergraduate Assembly and Student Activities Council elections as examples, most say the reason behind the void is the upcoming senior class. This usual source of campus leadership seems to have sidestepped its perennial duties. Every member of this year's UA is an underclassman and not surprisingly, every member of the UA's new steering committee is either a freshman or sophomore. And many, both at the University and nationwide, say that this may be part of a trend, in which students are putting extracurricular activities on the back burner to concentrate on academics. In the recent Student Activities Council steering elections, for example, only nine students pursued the five prestigious positions. That number has been steadily declining according to Albert Moore, the assistant director for student life activities and facilities, noting that as many as 25 used to run. While administrators said they remember a recent, one-year dearth of student leaders about five or six years ago, few recall such a widespread absence of students willing to take the helm of their organizations. "What we're seeing in the case of this particular junior class is an example of a wider trend," said Student Life Programs Director Fran Walker. "It's disturbing to those of us who work with student programs." The UA has been particularly hard-hit by the apparent decrease in interest in student activities. The number of candidates running in each of the four undergraduate schools has steadily declined in the past ten years, from a high of 65 students seeking seats on the assembly in 1981 to this year's low of 33. Outgoing UA Vice-chairperson Mike Feinberg said he is concerned for the future of the UA if this trend continues. "The students have got to find some way of dealing with the problems of apathy and lack of involvement," he said. "If nothing is done to change student government and to try to attack the general apathy on campus, I'm very afraid of that." Moore said SAC leadership, both for its steering and finance committees, has faced similar conditions, with fewer and fewer candidates vying for spots. · Walker said the problem has not been confined to the University, either. Administrators across the country have also seen a loss of interest in leadership positions. Judi Biggs, the assistant director of student activities at the University of Southern California, said administrators there have noticed a shift of priorities among students as well. "What we're seeing is that the ways students are involved is changing," Biggs said, adding that many students are changing their priorities toward community service and the environment. While administrators say the apparent trend is "troubling," other universities have taken steps to increase participation in activities. By giving credit for participation in certain activities, some colleges are both encouraging participation and reaffirming their commitment to the importance of these activities. "They're creating programs that can be taken for credit," Moore said. "People are finally recognizing that this is an important part of the experience." Walker explained that some schools have had these programs in place for many years. She said the institutions, often state-administered commuter schools, enable students to earn credit for research or writing papers dealing with their experiences. "They are frequently courses in leadership," she said. "It's not a traditional academic subject which fits neatly into an academic department." But Moore added that giving credit for activities is a "mixed blessing," as it can be perceived as an attempt to bribe students into participation. He said starting such programs would probably spur heated debate at the University on how credit at the University is awarded. USC is already implementing a "co-transcript" of classes, an official listing of extra-curricular activities prepared by the university. "It's an evolving thing," Biggs said. Duchess Harris, the outgoing chairperson of the UA, agreed that such initiatives could be useful, saying students may need more incentive to pursue activities outside the classroom. "I think there should be some kind of benefit the University gives for community service," she said. · Administrators blame most of the shift away from activities to a rise in the perceived importance of scholastics. "It's been relatively clear that students have been more interested in academics and less interested in extra activities than in the past," Moore said. He points to SAC and the UA as just two examples of this waning interest in student activities. He said that interest in leadership retreats, which are organized twice yearly by the Office for Student Life, has fallen off as well. The retreats, which have been held for at least eight to 10 years, have in the past been "very popular," according to Moore. "It's been harder for us to attract people to the leadership retreat," he said, adding that even those who do commit to the retreat make it "very clear" that they may need to back out if a paper is almost due or a test is approaching. "It is always subsumed under their pursuit of academics," he said. Some have blamed the lack of interest to an attitude change, saying students today are simply less civic-minded than students in past years. Outgoing UA chairperson Harris agreed, calling this selfishness a possible outgrowth of the "me-ism of the '80s." She said the competitiveness of the job market and graduate schools adds to this, as does the high tuition which many prestigious universities charge. "People take with more seriousness the amount of money their parents spend to send them here," she said. "They put much more emphasis on the academics and [reevaluate] why they are here." Roper cites decreasing numbers involved in national youth organizations which encourage leadership and service, like the Boy and Girl Scouts. "To a certain extent, those kinds of organizations that one might be involved in before coming to college that involve leadership and leadership training do not have the same numbers as they did before," he said. "Accordingly, when they arrive at the University, they are less prepared than they were before." Another factor which may be drawing students away from activities outside the classroom, administrators say, may be a growing lack of confidence or unwillingness to take chances. "There's less willingness to take on leadership positions that require more time and more work," Walker said. She added that she sees "an unwillingness to take on leadership roles, and also a decline in student confidence in their ability to take on this responsibility." But this unwillingness could also spring from a general decline in the interest and respect held for government outside of the University, Roper said. He suggested that parents' attitudes could be leaving a bigger mark on their children than many realize. "If students grow up and see their parents not voting and not participating, then that sort of cynicism is going to be contagious," he said. "If our idea of a hero is a basketball player who makes a couple of million dollars, then we're going to have lots more people going into basketball than into public service." · But most blame the decline on the fact that for some, student activities do not provide enough tangible rewards. The committment of time and energy to out-of-class activities always cuts into time that could be spent getting a better grade point average, student leaders said. "For the job to be done right in any large student group, it requires a big time commitment," Feinberg said. "getting a 4.0 [GPA] and being the chair of the UA -- you can pretty much call those contradictory goals." Black Student League President Jessica Dixon said she sees this problem in her group as well. "Everyone has the idea that it's just an awesome responsibility," she said. "The time commitment, the status -- there's a lot of responsibility placed on you." Moore said that students may be shifting more towards classwork because of the growing economic uncertainty in the nation, which has constricted the job market and made GPA's more important. "I really think people are much more interested in getting ahead in the classroom," he said. "The crumbling of traditional ideas makes people a little less secure and sure of themselves." Administrators said the highly competitive job market combined with the uncertainty of the economy has also made students less willing to take risks or positions apart from the crowd. "They see the way people get ahead is by following the rules," he explained. "People are less willing to be seen as different from the rest of the group." But Roper maintained that students are missing out on opportunities that would make them more equipped in the job market when they only pursue high grade point averages. "If students don't use their opportunites on campus to learn about interpersonal and organizational dynamics and leadership, I think it's going to end up hurting them later," he said. "I am quite confident that the skills I honed here at the University [extracurricularly] were more useful to me in the workplace than what I learned in class." · Feinberg said that if the current trend continues, he sees a problems looming, especially for the legitimacy of student government. "The decreasing amount of people running is something that really needs to be looked at," he said. "The more people you have running, the more potential you have for stronger and legitimate leadership." But Moore said that most student groups at the University are currently not facing a crisis for want of participants or leaders. "I don't think we're in any danger of not having student in activities and being leaders," he said. But he warned "that the quality of leadership when the number and diversity of people goes down" may decrease. Without leaders on campus, however, some say it may take time for students to be re-exposed to leadership role models. "Most leadership skills are learned, not through the classroom but through observation," Roper said. "I think part of the problem right now is that we've lost a tradition of leadership. We have to jumpstart it, but once you do, it will continue." 'There is less of an ethic of public service in general in the current generation than in the last generation. They have somewhat more selfish interests in general.' Tex Roper Wharton junior 'The only thing you're going to get out of extracurricular activities is personal satisfaction -- you're not going to get paid. It's totally overrated for what it's going to do on your resume.' Duchess Harris Former UA chair

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