Castles Made of Sand: Building UVM
Published November 27, 2007
Grappling with a Rapidly Changing Campus
By Max C. Bookman
The school administration would like you to know that they are building UVM. Actually, they have been for quite a while now. I guess that means President Fogel and I have something in common, because I love to build stuff too.
I mostly build sandcastles. North Beach, Nauset Beach, Jones, Wildwood, you name it, my castles have graced their sands. Sandcastles are fun to build because they are limited by nothing but imagination. They can be ridiculous, magnificent, or unrealistic. Poorly-designed sections can be crushed and built anew. The sand can be constantly re-shaped and re-molded to the builder’s liking.
Mr. Fogel must be a sandcastle builder for those reasons. I’m sure you’ve all read his gripping essay, “ Signatures of Excellence: UVM in the 21st Century,” which outlines his plan for reshaping the foundation of the UVM sandcastle. In case you’ve missed it, it’s an action-packed trip through a utopian University of Vermont in 2015, an Admissions Office wet dream where UVM seems to have won a popularity contest among other small public schools.
The title, “Signatures of Excellence” is very fitting, not only because President Fogel has quite an excellent signature, but because he, and two other administration elites, are the only people who signed it!
So, while “Signatures” is a truly great sales pitch to peddle a hundred-million dollar capital campaign, it can’t seriously reflect the will of the student body.
Granted, the school administration and student body have different goals. We’re here for four years, and are concerned about taking the most from our UVM experience. The administration’s vision is more long-term, as outlined by President Fogel, “to be the nation’s premier small public research university, pre-eminent in our comprehensive commitment to liberal education, environment, and health.”
Sounds nice. But what does the road to becoming the nation’s premier small public research university have in store? What if the administration’s long term vision tampers with the nature of UVM and conflicts with the very features of this school that attracted us in the first place?
There is indeed a growing choir of grumbling student voices regarding the changing character of the University and how quickly it’s happening. As of now, it is limited to an uneasy feeling, but some early repercussions may be emerging. The student body and school administration should have a dialogue before these effects develop into something far more tangible.
At just under 10,000, undergraduate enrollment is now higher than it’s ever been, an 1,000+ increase from last year alone. By almost every standard, that number puts UVM among the ranks of mid-size schools. While many of us found UVM’s small-school credentials appealing, freshmen in Harris-Millis are living with three roommates in dorms intended for two. Floor lounges have been converted into rooms to compensate for the overcrowding. Larger class sizes seem to be the next logical step.
The Groovy-UV vibe was appealing to many current students because it was complemented by a laid-back, yet definitely rigorous, academic atmosphere. UVM was never easy to get into. But as we become a “premier,” nationally-recognized research institution, that atmosphere will give way to the hyper-competitive cutthroat type of environment that turned so many of us off to other schools and made UVM so appealing.
Is the cost of becoming a school that people (high school seniors, and big-money investors) across the United States recognize by name, worth abandoning those things that made UVM great in the first place? Must moving towards the future include cutting our roots?
After all, the character of a school must sometimes change. UVM has been around since the 18th century, and I’m sure nobody in the Class of 1797 was out smoking hookah on the Redstone green. Time moves on, and the nature of the student body can’t stay the same forever.
The key is that the change should be natural. Some time after the turn of the millennium, the school administration decided that in order to achieve their own vision, the community had to be changed. And they have proceeded to do so. Through new construction, tweaked
admissions qualifications, the dry campus policy, crack downs on parties, and all the fanfare included in penning vision statements, the student body is beginning to transform. That’s sandcastle building.
It’s time for us to get involved. The goals of the administration and student body may be different, but one shouldn’t interfere with the other. Becoming a premier institution is a wonderful goal, but if realizing that goal includes sacrificing the small size and laid-back atmosphere that make UVM so special, it’s not worth it.
President Fogel offers ample opportunities for the student body to meet with him and discuss their concerns. The last time he opened his doors and coffee mugs, a whopping twelve students showed up. If we are truly interested in defending the character of UVM, we must make our voice heard.
The alternative, which our generation seems to be particularly fond of, is to do nothing. But, at some far off date, as we tour UVM in one of those alumni groups, will we recognize the school we knew and loved?
As they do today, one of those slick suit-wearing, plastic green nametag-toting, 30-something alumni tour guides will appeal to our fuzzy warm college memories to make us believe that we have some sort of connection to this new school enough to make us reach for our wallets to help keep building UVM.
We have the chance right now to let the administration know that there is a genuine feeling of unease among students that the very nature of UVM is changing in a way that conflicts with what made us choose this school above all others. Let’s make our voice heard now, before classes get any bigger, before dorms get more crowded, before the last remnants of Groovy-UV are thrown aside.
Of course, the Water Tower will always be here to remind you to keep fighting the power. Until then, the school administration will keep building sandcastles to suit their vision. Sadly enough, castles made of sand do fall in the sea, eventually.
Online Feature: Read “Signatures of Excellence” yourself at thewatertowernews.com/buildinguvm.
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