Efforts to create community are unsuccessful
Madeleine Fentress
Issue date: 2/20/07 Section: Issues
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Creating a sense of community in a 330-acre campus of nearly 6,500 undergraduates is no small task. Recent attempts on the part of the Vanderbilt administration, while laudable in intent, have fallen short simply because of the size of the campus and the nature of the planned events and activities. A true sense of community can only come from the ground up, that is, from student- run activities rather than from artificial (though undoubtedly well-meaning) efforts by the administration.
The recently overhauled Vanderbilt Visions program is an example of a program initiated by the administration that has not created the envisioned sense of community. While the program is undergoing changes and has the potential to improve the first-year experience, it still has the feel of a slightly stiff attempt to foster community that results in some worthwhile experiences but consists mostly of "forced bonding time." Many freshmen have found friendship within their Visions groups, and the VUCeptors have done their best to facilitate discussions, but the basic structure of Visions is what hinders it from being truly community-building. In fact, many academic classes are more effective in building community than Visions simply because the lessons taught are more straightforward and the goals are clear. Having more effective meetings with lesser frequency (such as a day of service rather than weekly one-hour sessions) seems like it would be more likely to build community.
Another more tangible example of the university's efforts to create a common Vanderbilt experience is the development of the College Halls Initiative, which will result in the opening of the Commons in fall 2008. It is certainly necessary to update freshman housing, but isolating the freshman class from the rest of campus runs contrary to the project's goal of building community. Though the freshman class might find community among themselves, separating them from upperclassmen as well as the main campus is counterproductive.
The recently overhauled Vanderbilt Visions program is an example of a program initiated by the administration that has not created the envisioned sense of community. While the program is undergoing changes and has the potential to improve the first-year experience, it still has the feel of a slightly stiff attempt to foster community that results in some worthwhile experiences but consists mostly of "forced bonding time." Many freshmen have found friendship within their Visions groups, and the VUCeptors have done their best to facilitate discussions, but the basic structure of Visions is what hinders it from being truly community-building. In fact, many academic classes are more effective in building community than Visions simply because the lessons taught are more straightforward and the goals are clear. Having more effective meetings with lesser frequency (such as a day of service rather than weekly one-hour sessions) seems like it would be more likely to build community.
Another more tangible example of the university's efforts to create a common Vanderbilt experience is the development of the College Halls Initiative, which will result in the opening of the Commons in fall 2008. It is certainly necessary to update freshman housing, but isolating the freshman class from the rest of campus runs contrary to the project's goal of building community. Though the freshman class might find community among themselves, separating them from upperclassmen as well as the main campus is counterproductive.
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