SUU can help find students

“Find Yourself at SUU” is the university’s new slogan and the topic of a planned image campaign.
We believe the slogan captures the essence of what the college experience should be and encourage all SUU students to live it to the fullest in all its interpretations. We also suggest the university and its entities support students in their quest to do so.
We think the idea of students finding themselves at SUU includes exploring opinions, values and ideas other than those learned as children. We believe the most valuable experiences in college are new ones.
Students should get involved in clubs and organizations in which they have an interest. Being involved in campus life gives students who may not otherwise associate with one another a chance to experience and embrace their differences. We think knowing students with diverse views and backgrounds is an important part of growth and learning at a university.
In order to broaden their horizons and discover their own values, ideas and beliefs, students should seek to associate with people who are different from them. This can be a difference in race, in family life, in culture, or even in ideas. If students never explore anything other than what they have always done, they will never know if who they are now is who they want to be.
Dean O’Driscoll, assistant to the president for university relations, said the slogan refers to the fact that students here are treated as individuals and not numbers. While we agree students certainly have the opportunity to be known for who they are and not a number at SUU, we think the student will ultimately decide if that will happen. Although SUU is a small school, we believe it has large-university opportunities. Any student with a passion to do something on campus can do it. Even if there isn’t currently a club to suit a particular interest, one can be easily created. There is nothing students can’t make happen at SUU.
In addition, students have a greater chance to get to know faculty at SUU than at other universities. All it takes is a phone

 

call or a trip to the professor’s office to get real-life advice on topics ranging from career choices, to class schedules to college life in general.
We applaud the university and the developers of this slogan, and believe it can be a great guide for students. However, we stress the need to remember that once students find out who they are, they must be allowed to be that person. The slogan does no good if it simply means students should find themselves to be alike.
In order for this slogan to give students the things we believe it has the potential to, SUU must become more accepting to differences. We must respect the opinions of others no matter how they differ from our own. After all, we can’t expect students to find themselves if we ask them to hide what they found.
The opinion expressed above is the collective perspective of the University Journal’s editorial board. The editorial board meets every Wednesday at 11 a.m. in Room 172 of the Sharwan Smith Center. Visitors are welcome.