Safe space for spontaneity: part 2
Yesterday I suggested that we need more blanket forts. (I still believe this to be true). I also argued that Columbia needs more spontaneous fun and student interactions, especially those outside of formally organized situations. I lamented the lack “safe spaces” for spontaneity, and concluded by suggesting that because so many student spaces have to be reserved by student groups, the spontaneous connections that are so vital to healthy community are in fact often inhibited. This brings me to my argument here in part two: that the (wonderful!) plethora of student groups sometimes contributes to the culture of isolation on campus.
In order to use space, you often have to reserve it, and in order to reserve space, you must be affiliated with a recognized student group. This policy affects buildings across campus, from Earl Hall to Lerner. And this is a phenomenal problem. It severely limits and even at times prohibits the opportunities for spontaneous social interaction between students outside of formal student groups.
Don’t get me wrong—student groups are rock stars for our campus. The heart of our campus and it’s vibrancy can be found in the passion and vast array of our clubs and extracurriculars, and these groups are often the best ways for Columbian’s to find community on campus.
But for many of us, our attempts to find community by joining student groups sometimes works at the expense of the community at large, as we partition the student body off into isolated spheres, and our interactions become wholly separated and dictated by organized clubs and activities.
If the only interactions we have are through student groups and organized events, our community actually suffers in the long run.
We need more organic, spontaneous interactions across campus. Juniors and Seniors may remember the Great Snowball Fight Of December 2009, an example of one of my fondest Columbia experiences. Well, we need more of that.
We need more unorganized, non-student-group-affiliated interactions and fun-faring, like impromptu dance parties on college walk, pop-up jam sessions between strangers, and tandem-sled rides down the snowy steps of Low late at night on a cafeteria tray with a complete stranger (true story).
We need to step outside of the student group structure more often to initiate student interactions on campus. We need more spontaneous use of spaces, and more spontaneous interactions between students, especially outside of organized student groups. And we need more blanket forts.
There is a lot on our campus that is limited: our time, our space, our friend circles, our perspectives—let’s maximize the potential of the space and time we’ve got for the benefit of a whole community.
Caroline Blosser is a Senior Spectrum opinion blogger. She is an Ancient History major. She is also serious about this blanket fort plan.
Caroline, I don’t see what is so wrong with Columbia that you feel the need to continually lament about and try to change. I’m a junior and I consider the nearly 3 years I have spent here some of the most challenging, yes, but also some of the happiest of my young life. I know I will be sad to leave it all behind next year.
You also seem to gloss over the fact that student groups often try to reach out to other student groups, and to the community at large. Sometimes this works, sometimes it doesn’t, but it bears mentioning.
There’s really nothing stopping things like the 2009 snowball fight happening except ourselves (and the lack of snow).
Why would people ever reserve anything for “spontaneous fun”? Wouldn’t it not be spontaneous then? I don’t understand this whole series, this seems like such a manufactured problem. We have Low steps, two big lawns, and
Learner. Oh and a giant park not five blocks away. You never explain whats wrong with any of these compared to Diana and the Barnard lawn and just sort of assert that they’re worse.
Also, why do you think it would be good to have pop up dance parties
In a public space shared by everyone? I don’t think most people want to be blasted with house music at random intervals during the day but maybe I’m just out of touch
I grew up in Mumbai, Bombay then. I still remember Waqt was relsaeed with shows starting at 9:00 AM. Most of the tickets were sold out in advance. I, along with some of my Bombayite friends, had to see first day first show. We were all fans of Sadhana who turned 70 on September 2nd. Who could forget Raajkumar and his dialogues…”Yeh bachon ke khelne ki cheez nahin! Haath kat jaaye toh khoon nikal aata hai”"Jinke ghar sheeshe ke hon, woh dusron par pathar nahi phenka karte”Cheers,Kishore….
If you have a bank that you have been with for a while you can check to see if they will give you a loan. If not than you probably wont have any luck getnitg one.
Honestly, Caroline, screw you. I understand your complaint, and the extent to which a social structure structured around organized and recognized student groups leads to the fracturing of campus community, but your consideration of alternatives is simply unfair. The alternative to recognized student groups reserving space isn’t that space being accessible for “spontaneous” student interactions; it’s the space being inaccessible for students! The problem isn’t student groups; it’s Columbia’s tight-fisted, bureaucratic management of space on this campus; the bureaucratization of student groups is a necessary response to that.
Thank god we have people who dedicate their entire careers at Columbia to working behind the scenes in governing boards like ABC and SGB so student groups can figure out Columbia’s byzantine student life regulations. Because if we didn’t have that, Columbia wouldn’t be Brown, where students can spontaneously go anywhere they want and do anything they want; it would be fucking NYU, where students have access to no campus space.
I know it’s not your intention, and I know you tried to make that clear in your piece, but the fact remains that you’re shitting on all their hard work. You’re implying that if students didn’t have to join groups that have to be recognized by the administration and file all sorts of absurd financial disclosures and space requests to meet, then students would be free. That’s just unrealistic.
The problem isn’t the student groups. The problem is Columbia’s bureaucracy; the solution to that is tightly-organized student groups. Change the underlying issue—Columbia’s suffocating bureaucracy—and we won’t need such well-organized student groups. Then we can actually have room for spontaneous social interactions. But until that point, stop shitting on the people who spend their weekends filling out ridiculous paperwork to ensure that students on this campus have places to play, practice, and party.
agree with some of these nuanced critiques, but downvoted for the ‘screw you’.
This guy is funny. The difficulty is for some, they end up going torguhh this process without even choosing. I have been going torguhh a process for about 15yrs now. I have lost count of how many times I have had spontanious breakthroughs and after a little while, usually a couple minutes, sometimes longer your back and the mind can and does increase resistance which then causes symptoms. I tend to go torguhh a wave of 2 weeks significant peace, 2 weeks increased resistance.
These comments are getting a bit mean, eh? Anyway I think its a great article, Ms. Blosser- having spent my first three years on a different campus, I think your “diagnosis” of the potential problem when student groups monopolize student interactions is spot on (is least i what i understand you to be saying?); i can understand why people are upset by it, but i think there is incredible truth in it. also, awesome Doctor Who reference!!!!
Student groups and spontaneous fun are not mutually exclusive. In fact, I would argue that student groups facilitate spontaneous fun because they do a really great job of connecting people to friends, and friends are necessary for spontaneous fun.
I had a great time at the snowball fight, pillow fight, and sledding on the steps. But the simple truth is that you can’t go to those kind of things alone: you go with friends, or else you feel like even more of an outsider. And student groups are one of the best ways to make friends. I won’t state my criticism with the same vulgarity as some of the earlier commenters, but I do think this piece is pretty far off the mark and not what I would expect from you.
Caroline, let me take this opportunity to thank you for the amazing work you do for the well-being of students on this campus. I’ve really appreciated your efforts to make Columbia a better place to be a human. (Also, I think your point here has a lot of merit.)
Alex : funny? glad to hear you had fun reading all00llll that korean! 수고했으! ㅋㅋyes! go on a road trip by yourself.. it gives you time to think and look back at yourself and don’t forget your camera~
Dana Herin – I LOVE these pics of their family. You ctupared the happiness they exude. They are such a remarkable family and an inspiration to so many. Your photography is fantastic and, of course, I love the Laynors’ pictures a lot!May 19, 2009 2:44 pm
Your continued search for problems at Columbia has gotten more and more embarassing. Student groups are the villain now, preventing us from your magical world of whimsical spontaneity? Looking forward to when you blame public safety for preventing us from making camp fires.
i totally get what she means, it should be easier for individual students to reserve spaces. Its not the fault of student groups, just annoying policy
Bar any student group that is against expansion of Columbia from any campus space (or at least put them in line behind the blanket forts). Eventually they’ll understand why expansion is in their best interest…