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Reclaiming our tradition again

It’s funny how things change. Just six years ago, I came to GSU to earn my bachelor’s degree in computer science. Now, I have a bachelor’s in mass communication and I am on my way to obtaining a master’s degree in that same field. Over the years, I’ve seen a slew of changes.The golden days of sitting on The Yard, watching the car show, are long gone. Those fun, yet crazy water balloon fights that got you in trouble with GSUPD have vanished. The traditional Friday night movies every week there was no home game for the Fall and every Friday for the Spring have also disappeared.

I’m starting to see a campus that is becoming devoid of student life . and it scares me. Of course, you have a few events that do occur, such as Lyrical Quest, but there used to be so much more participation. It’s almost as if students don’t care.

It’s sad, because we, the students, are the customers, and, quite frankly, we run the show. There are some students that make outlandish requests, such as a Jacuzzi or sauna in the Intramural Center. But, there are some that make valid requests, such as getting the Internet turned on in the traditional dorms and working utilities.

Back when I was coming up through Grambling, we fought tooth and nail to get what we wanted. It took the SGA doing surveys around campus to get updated cable facilities. It took us pleading way back in 2003 to update the dire housing situation. It took us stepping on a few toes to get a better café and Tiger Xpress. It simply took dedication.

Today, that dedication is as rare as seeing Elijah this semester. It’s really sad, because this campus has more resources and tools than the SGA of 2003 and 2004 had. There was no Facebook or TheGramblinite.com. There was no Internet in the dorms. Yet, we still got things done and played to the little we had.

With “the yard” shells of its former self, and the streets of Grambling quieter than a mouse at times, it seems as if the old GSU is dead. While that’s partially a great thing, as no one wants to stay in a high-rise with a slew of problems, I feel that students today take things for granted.

The water goes out for a few hours and students want to have a fit. I remember in Garner when our water was out for days due to a busted pipe. We didn’t complain much; we laughed it off and made it work. The lights go out for a few hours and students whine on Facebook about it. Our lights went off for days sometimes, but we made it work.

Yet, the sad thing seems to be that the students that make valid requests are few . very few. At a recent town hall meeting orchestrated by the SGA, the administrators outnumbered the students. I shook my head in shame after the meeting, because the students don’t care.

Simply put, the students of GSU are spoiled. I hate to say it, as “spoiled” is a pretty strong term, but it’s true. There used to be a time you had to scrape and scrap to get the best of the best. But nowadays, it’s just handed to students.

Maybe we should leave some of the low-rises up and put students in there. I bet that’ll slap some dedication in them.

Or maybe, the status quo is all that’s needed.