In Defense of Oakwood

First, I would like to apologize for the rambling nature of my argument. It is, however, a tradition of mine to steadily travel through seemingly unrelated points until I finally bring them back to an issue involving the EMU campus.

This being said, I would like to start with Wendell Berry. EMU’s advanced writing classes, currently taught by Marti Eads, have been reading “Jayber Crow,” one of his novels. In the novel, Berry constantly talks about belonging and the need for people to have a “place” that is their own. The main character can only find this sense of belonging in his hometown of Port William.

The green design class, on the other hand, has been reading “Design on the Edge” by David Orr, who was the leading force behind the Lewis Center, one of the first green buildings on a college campus. Toward the end of the book, Orr talks about the same sense of belonging to a place, in this case the Ozarks, where he worked at creating a new University model for 11 years. Unlike the main character in “Jayber Crow,” Orr’s “place” is one that he wasn’t born in and was able to leave.

I would like to declare Oakwood a “place” in the sense that Berry and Orr use the word. Perhaps it’s the conceit of a second-year “veteran” of the building, but I feel that no other dorm on campus has quite the level of history, tradition, or unique feel as Oakwood. As current residents, we constantly hear Oakwood alum talking about things such as building-wide water-fights in the ‘60s, rooms filled with cigar smoke, and improvised Jacuzzis in the bathrooms, while we add things like the Airsoft wars of last year to this tradition. While these events clearly aren’t encouraged by the administration, they add excitement to a campus that is often described by students as inactive.

On the other hand, it really is an awful building in need of reconstruction. And, to be fair to the entire student body, any new dorm constructed would have to be co-ed. This being said, the existence of an all-male dorm is a tradition worth continuing.

I vote for Elmwood.

Good Luck,
Dylan Zehr