Living as Mennonites

As I reflect on four years at EMU, I must confess a little shiver. These have been cold years.

I distinctly remember feeling the cold wind of winter strike my face as I sat inside my dorm rooms in Oakwood during my first two years. It was during these years that I longed for the day that I could move off-campus into more comfortable housing.

I have now achieved that dream, but unfortunately some things have not changed. The windows in my current domicile in south Park View (where the professors do not tread) do not let the cold wind through like the relics in the dorms. Maintaining a warm home, however, is a rather pricey proposition for someone living on loans.

This experience is a far cry from the college housing experience of a growing number of peers at other universities. Those of you who attended this Tuesday's Town Meeting with President Swartzendruber heard the president and others discussing the nature of the Millenials Generation - our generation. We have lived with more money, electronic gadgets, and structure in our lives than previous generations, and that changes how we approach college.

This week's Chronicle of Higher Education details a new $27 million dormitory complex that has just opened at the University of Oregon. The typical double room in their Oregon's new center is 225 square feet, a 75 square foot increase from rooms in their older dorms. Micheal Eyster, Oregon's director of housing explains, "I was a freshman in '66, and I came to school with one suitcase and a clarinet," but today's students need far more space for their electronic gear.

The University of Oregon is not alone in the trend of building ritzy dormitories to attract the coddled high schoolers of our generation. Northern Kentucky University President James Votruba laments in the Cincinnati Post that "At home, most [of today's students] have not shared a bedroom and many have not shared a bathroom. When they come to college, they expect the same creature comforts. That puts pressure on all the colleges because there is competition for these students."

This is the same pressure that EMU must confront as it anticipates possibly building new dormitories in the coming years. Not even the administrators that I have talked to will say that a dormitory like Roselawn is a nice place to live (unless you dislike sunlight), but that does not mean that the posh dormitories of other universities are appropriate for EMU.

As a Mennonite university and as a university that strives to educate in the global context, we must recognize that this conflict is far more than the older generation decrying the excesses of the youth. The creature comforts desired by Americans are not in balance with the existence of the rest of the world. The economic success of the United States that has built these expectations has come through predatory economic practices against the people groups with which we seek affinity.

We at EMU who have lived through the prioritization process know that EMU cannot ignore the need to attract students. These students may well have different values and expectations than those espoused by the Global Village Curriculum. Do we build housing that does not resonate with the globally-minded education we receive in the classroom and on cross-culturals? More generally, to what degree should EMU seek more students at the possible expense of its values?

No easy answer can come of these questions. Nor can EMU remold the expectations of an entire generation in a more Mennonite form. I look forward to the day when EMU students can live and study in relative climate control and protection from the elements. I also offer my hope that, as EMU seeks growth in capital and number of students, that the university does not lose itself in its goals. If EMU is to remain a distinctly Mennonite university, it will remain a small university. It will also likely remain a university of some modesty in its buildings and services. This is not a failure but rather a further area of distinction from our surroundings. Our Mennonite values must always remain evident in all aspects of the university. We must not shy away from excellence in the classroom or in our abilities to effect change in the world, but we also must not forget the effect our values must have on our everyday lives.