The preceding comments about my alumni oganization were brought on by a bunch of factors– the arrival of a Maryland alumni publication this week, the update-your-information questionnaire from the Society of Alumni, a visiting speaker last week who was two years behind me at Williams. Probably the biggest was the fact that this is Union’s Homecoming, which also means I’m off to spend most of the afternoon on campus, watching football and rugby, and talking to whatever students, parents, and recent alumni I encounter.
This is one of those small-college things that I think is actually fairly important for the faculty. Students genuinely seem to appreciate having faculty show up at their events, and take an interest in what they do. And I do kind of enjoy watching football live, so I make an effort to go over to campus a couple of times each fall, to wander around and see what’s going on. There’s more going on this weekend than usual, of course, as it’s both Homecoming and Parents’ Weekend, so there’ll be a larger than usual number of people present. That’s also a fun part of things– it’s often amusing to meet the parents of students I have in class.
This sort of thing is also a big part of building the sense of connection and community that I talked about in the previous post. Union doesn’t quite have it down yet– I think they drop the ball a little by combining Homecoming and Parents’ Weekend, and also by things like having four of the varsity teams scheduled for away games this weekend– but they’re making an effort at it, and getting a little better. I think that sense of community is really important for the college, not only in terms of fund-raising, but in generally improving the atmosphere on campus, so I’m happy to spend a pleasant (if brisk) fall day watching some low-level college sports.
So you’re on your own for the rest of the day.