When you live in suburbia, you develop certain expectations of your neighbors. You’ll assume that they will accommodate you by keeping noise to a minimum, offering up cups of sugar when you’ve run out, and performing other neighborly duties. We all did grow up watching Mr. Rogers sing to us about the importance of being a good neighbor, after all.
But how would you feel about a neighbor who throws up on your perfectly coiffed lawn every weekend? Or a drunken neighbor that not only has no sugar, flour or eggs for you to borrow, but keeps you awake at ungodly hours with loud music? Not to mention that this neighbor treats you with sneering indifference, regarding you as little more than someone to simply share borders with.
Northwestern University has been a bad neighbor. And apparently, we’re well aware of it: Why else did the university feel the need to organize its Communiversity Day last Saturday? The family-oriented event, with crafts for kids and lectures for adults, was an olive branch, an attempt to repair a damaged relationship. This bad neighbor was trying to win back the respect of the community by reaching out — that is, by putting on some science demonstrations, workshops and performances.
But was it enough? Did it help create a stronger connection between the university and our neighborhood? Probably not, because the community reacted the same way a neglected and mistreated neighbor would — with disinterest.
The day was, by my account, a failure. As a volunteer working the event, I expected a busy rush of eager and excited people. Instead I saw a few mildly interested people ambling in, populated mostly by harassed parents trying to find a way to entertain the kids for a day. With the solitary exception of the Arts Fest tent on Deering Field, the events that I was stationed near had depressingly small audiences, including lecturer Eberhard Zwergel’s Chemical Curiosities demonstration.
Perhaps it was because of lack of advertising, the miserable weather or poor organization, but Communiversity Day didn’t get the job done. No connection was forged between the university and the community, and I’d feel hard-pressed to find even one member of the neighborhood who now feels that they know the university better.
Communiversity Day was a feeble attempt at best. Something more must be done if the university is serious about cultivating a strong and amicable relationship with the community. While the event is a commendable start, other venues must be explored: perhaps a university-wide tutoring service that sends Northwestern students to local grade schools will help put a friendly face on our colossal university. Maybe increasing advertising for campus events open to the public —performances, speeches or concerts — will help bring our neighbors to campus. We must permeate the community with our presence while also encouraging the community to come to us.
But in all fairness, even though Northwestern hasn’t lent the community any sugar yet, the university is at least making an effort to become more neighborly. I’m not sure what will make up for the vomit on the lawn, but any step is a good one.