Doesn’t smell like school spirit
By reading this sentence you’ve done something most Mount Royal University students fail at — taken an interest in what’s happening on campus.
Hallelujah, and thanks for reading. You’ve restored some of our faith in humanity.
However, the majority of people couldn’t care less about being involved with this institution.
We’re not exaggerating. We suck. Seriously.
According to statistics put out by The Canadian University Survey Consortium, MRU looks to be where school spirit goes to die.
In 2011, the CUSC surveyed 8,549 undergraduate students across Canada, including 485 MRU students. The results weren’t pretty for our loveable little institution.
Only eight per cent of students surveyed attended a campus social event. In comparison, 21 per cent of students in the “Group I” category, made up of MRU and 25 similar schools such as Grant MacEwan University, the University of Winnipeg and University of Lethbridge, said they attended social events on campus.
The other three measures were equally dismal.
Only 15 per cent of students surveyed said they attend campus lectures outside of class, compared to 23 per cent in Group I. Just seven per cent of MRU students report going to their sports team’s home games, compared to 16 per cent overall. And, a meager 3 per cent of MRU students report attending cultural events on campus, versus 15 per cent of Group I.
Sure, students are apathetic wishy-washy hipsters, stereotypically speaking. But, it’s scary how badly this institution lags behind comparable schools.
Unless MRU students hate learning, socializing, sports and culture, there’s something wrong with how campus events are being packaged.
How often have you scoffed at a poster advertising some lame event? Maybe the ad failed to catch your attention in the first place.
And, no — being a “commuter campus” isn’t an excuse for apathy. Let’s stop playing that card.
There’s never been a better time to tell policy makers what you want, with a new student services plan proposing to address these problems in the near future.
Talk to the Students’ Association or schedule a meeting with a MRU board member. Or, hey — write for The Reflector. Tell someone. Do something. Thanks for reading.
That is disheartening. I am a new MRU student who is quiet eager to get involved in my new community. From what I have seen, and being new I realize might make it limited, but it feels like there definitely is a disconnect when it comes to the human factor in all these events. Maybe instead of just posting posters, there could be small rallies to promote this events that can awaken some awareness in students.
Its not for trying. I’m the events coordinator for Improvination, the campus improv troupe, and we run into opposition all the time from MRU. The SA is very accommodating, but we hear “no” more from MRU bearucrats than anything else, assuming they respond at all. There’s a lack of humor in this institution and it’s facilitated by the management and operations teams. It’s frustrating, but we are working through it. It would be nice to focus on event details as opposed to rewriting proposals and chasing people down any time we want to do anything. MRU administration has explicitly said they don’t want any engagement where students aren’t explicitly choosing to engage, we’re not allowed to surprise people or put them in situations that are even remotely uncomfortable. And don’t get me started about temporarily altering the aesthetic experience of the campus.
Sorry. Its hard to build a culture of spontaneity and levity in such an environment. We are working on it however, and with support can crack this institutions stoic facade.
Improvination meets 5-6:30 on Thursday’s in e161. Come join us.