Dear Editor:
After visiting my alma mater, SIUC, this past weekend, and logging on to have my say, I see I'm not the first to have noticed the rundown, dumpy appearance of this campus. I have to say, I am ashamed and may have to quit using the defense, "But it's a beautiful campus!" to those who ridicule me for attending the "party school." It had been about three years since my last visit to Carbondale, and I was appalled upon making my customary rounds to check things out: peeling paint, crumbling mortar, unkempt grounds and little attention to aesthetics, (a dumpster on the walkway to a Thompson Point dorm entrance?? Gross and tacky.)
The Towers looked like projects from the South Side of Chicago. Their design may have been cutting edge at one time, but their dated appearance now is a testament to the wisdom of classic architecture. I stopped by Woody Hall to request my transcripts; the peeling paint and overall dinginess of the premises were disheartening. I found myself relieved that the recipient of my transcripts wouldn't see my former campus. Instead of kicking off my sandals and enjoying the grass on a beautiful spring day, I steered clear of the lawn for fear of stirring all the dandelions gone to seed and making the problem worse.
I also swung by several of my old haunts on the Strip, and the abject negativity of the students was shocking. I felt as if the spirit and vitality of the student body was as barren as the campus flower beds. I urge the administration to turn things around. With declining enrollment and negative press, they need all the alumni backing they can get. This alum, for one, is wondering how she can, in good faith, urge someone to attend SIUC.
Margie Roberts
SIUC alumnus, 1989
Published on 11/17/05; 12:24:44 PM
