Whatever. If something sucks, it sucks.

Today one of my colleagues ripped on me, in the presence of numerous other folks, and plainly stated that he/she was ticked off at my lack of support for one of the administrative entities of the school on a particular matter. First, I am glad that this was said... 1. I serve in some official, elected capacities and it is my responsibility to hold up my end of the bargain 2. It takes courage to say "what the heck," especially in public and at the right time... and most importantly 3. It is the right thing to do... if not it would get brushed under the rug and there would be all that harboring-negative-feelings-crap, which I hate.

Then I got to thinking... should I be all PC and support the administrative entities of the school (maybe it be faculty, staff, deans, admissions, career management, library etc.) at all times, no matter what I thought? I think I am blessed with enough common sense to not bash the school... but if I am having a discussion with three friends in the hallway and we talk about how one of the recent projects done by one of the schools administrative entities sucks, well... if I think it sucks, I will say that it sucks. That's the friend and Owen student in me talking. Now what is unacceptable given my role on campus as a member of the student government is that I don't do anything about it... that is wrong. And I try very hard to make sure that never happens. But that is a discussion for another time.

The Owen Student Government is a body has elected officers... elected by the students. The interest and development of the student body is my primary responsibility and I feel very strongly about it. I see it as my right as well as obligation to call a spade a spade... if something sucks, it sucks. Well, I probably shouldn't say that it "sucks," (i.e. I should probably substitute it with another word) but I am going to call it as I see it... and its going to offend a few people in the bargain, but I am sorry that I cannot deal with mediocrity, especially when excellence is clearly within reach.

So how does this quasi-rant help potential students: The Owen culture is not one of accepting what is given to us. We try to challenge it. I try to challenge it. We should challenge it. Change is challenging in an educational institution, and at the very least it takes a whole academic year for a new initiative to get rolled out just because that's the way everything works. But that should not change the way we look at problems and potential solutions. This is a school that embraces change... and is constantly looking for ways to make this place better. That is one of the fundamental reasons why I love Owen. Please...call a spade a spade when you come to visit. Tell us what you like about Owen and also share your ideas that will help us make this a better place to live and learn. For that matter, send us an email right now... to owenbloggers at gmail dot com and tell us what you think. We want to hear from you. If something sucks, we want to know.

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