COLUMN: The Eighth Day

From Jordana Horn's "in Possibility," Spring '94 From Jordana Horn's "in Possibility," Spring '94And on the seventh day, He rested. But once that week was over, the world was left, for better or for worse, in the hands of people. Regardless of your belief in a deity or practicing faith, it is easy to see that if humanity had hung around waiting to see what nature would provide or afflict it with, the world would be the most profound of wastelands. In the seventh month at the University of Pennsylvania, the Commission on Strengthening the Community rested. What happens now is anyone's guess. The reaction to the Commission's report has been strong all over campus: people are in favor of a recommendation or against it. They applaud it or they condemn it. For example, assigned housing is good. Assigned housing is bad. Pro or con. Enough said. But surely the work of the Commission is not divinely inspired. The Commission is a group of people who, regardless of motivation, tried to make the University a better place. In recent days, this is one of the rare times when people within the University explain what they perceive as problems and offer ideas for solutions. Regrettably enough, this occurs all too seldom within the context of the student body itself. It takes a Commission report for the University's student body to take a hard look at what composes its own experience. And while we as students are quick to complain, we're not too swift about taking the time to come up with solutions. This is not to say that there aren't student groups who actively engage themselves in attempting to reform the University. For example, the Student Committee on Undergraduate Education is one such group that consistently makes an effort to better the University's academic mission. But it is regrettable that only a specially-formed Commission report can make students realize that the University can be fundamentally changed. Ideally, students rather than administrators would have taken it upon themselves to formulate plans for the University's future. To a certain extent, the University nurtures this kind of dependency. Take a look at the Judicial Inquiry Office for a moment, and then think to yourself -- when you went to college, did you ever think that if you had a problem with someone you would run to an administrator without attempting to talk to the person who had wronged you? I would think we have all passed the age of "run and tell Mommy." But it seems that coming to college, in particular coming to this University, no longer inherently implies an assumption of personal responsibility, but rather creates a new base upon which we, as students, can rely. Certainly, it can be argued that this is a phenomenon not unique to the University, but endemic to the nation as a whole. However, students looking for real education must break this cyclical culture of reliance and fend for themselves. Surely it is not just optimism to hope that University students' creativity extends beyond "If you could spend an evening with a person of your choice, alive or dead, fictional or non-fictional, who would it be and why?" or designing a Spring Fling T-shirt. So why doesn't the UA attempt to come up with a proposal that goes beyond agreeing with or denouncing the Commission's findings? And, to go a step beyond that, why leave it to the UA -- why not come up with ideas ourselves? It's hard, believe me. In talking with two friends about ways to increase interracial contact between students in residences, it was difficult to come up with an idea that didn't include knocking down the High Rises and starting over (however strengthening that might prove for the entire community). But we didn't come to college to knock down or support ideas as we saw fit. If students could see the University as a malleable context for their own expression and ideas, and use this opportunity to the extent of its possibility, they would truly learn from their experience regardless of who they room with, what social organizations they join, or where they come from. The Commission Report is simply a series of recommendations, and it should be taken as such. Rather than seeing these ideas as a predefined template into which the University will be made to fit, the ideas should serve as a tableau presented to the University to evaluate, consider, debate and build future ideas upon. If the University will not encourage free thought and inquiry, it is incumbent upon us to do so ourselves. It will take far more than any commission or committee to strengthen the community -- it will take a conspicuous interest and incentive on the part of students to strengthen themselves. There's nothing wrong with resting on the seventh day -- provided, of course, that you know what you're getting into on the eighth. Jordana Horn is a junior Communications major from Short Hills, New Jersey and Executive Editor of The Daily Pennsylvanian. in Possibility appears alternate Tuesdays.