A new science building is great and all, but I can’t remember the last time I woke up and heard anything other than heavy equipment beeping in the distance.
I exaggerate only a little, and, in fairness to UTM, the groundbreaking on the new Latimer Science Building only started last year, but it bears repeating that constant construction projects and an accommodating campus environment are mutually exclusive. As UTM goes into the future with plans for expanding services and amenities on campus, they should also bear in mind that dodging heavy machinery and trucks on your way to class is not the kind of excitement one needs before a big test.
People have an expectation that colleges are refuges from the chaos and confusion of the world, like secular monasteries where people can enjoy a peaceful study session in the quadrangle or walk to class without having to navigate construction barriers and men with hardhats.
Obviously, I’m not saying UTM should cancel their building plans just to please a persnickety student like myself, I’m merely suggesting a new philosophy on campus life that they might consider sticking in the appendix of their “strategic plan.”
Consider: the world likes people and institutions that are mobile, dynamic, always changing, always improving, getting bigger and better all the time. Capitalism demands it, but, to me, this is not a good philosophy for a university.
Universities are about education and reflection—they are sturdy and rooted because we expect institutions that educate people to be, themselves, wise. There are a few associations that come to mind with the word wise, but the ever-changing dynamism of adding new buildings, a new quad, new this, new that, is not one of them. We should expect institutions in the business of being wise to be static, unchanging—to the extent that such a thing is possible at least. Do they go around willy-nilly knocking down and rebuilding buildings at Oxford? As a matter of fact, they do, but you wouldn’t expect them to, would you?
Am I saying universities can never build new buildings or have minor construction projects? No, that would be ridiculous. But what I am trying to say is that the collegiate experience is more than just cool buildings (or whatever monstrosities Humanities and Gooch are) arranged around a bit of grass and trees. There are certain intangibles that some people, like stodgy old me, think to add incalculable value to their experience of attending a university. One of those is peace, quiet and a well-ordered campus not constantly perturbed with building projects.
Photo Credit / WBBJTV
