We live in a society that talks more about Donald Trump than Malala Yousafzai and that cares more about a red cup than the Red Cross.
Drivers are more likely to slow down to gawk at an accident and speed up when about to make eye contact with a homeless man on a street corner.
Controversy attracts human beings. It’s magnetizing force has such a grip on us, that when life is going well, we tend to neglect positive conversations or support.
Despite the focused and productive conversation at the Student Government Association’s Town Hall Reallocation meeting on Wednesday, only about 20 students came to represent the 5,984 undergraduate students on Belmont’s campus.
Although these students proposed thoughtful ideas for space reallocation and expressed legitimate concerns, when SGA opened up for students at Belmont to voice concerns and solutions at a meeting, the turnout was less than appropriate.
Due to its controversial nature, last year’s Town Hall meeting attracted hundreds of students, packing the Beaman.
Where were those students Wednesday?
Were they perfectly content with the state of Belmont and had absolutely no opinions or complaints whatsoever?
Perhaps a lack of advertisement caused the low turnout, or maybe apathy caused Beaman A & B to become akin to a ghost town.
Either way, together, we need to take complaints from our daily conversations to a forum where our voices can truly impact senior leadership’s decisions.
Change requires initiative and preventative action. Change does not only come from controversy or fights with adversaries. Students must stop only reacting to controversy, expecting results.
To truly make a difference on this campus and to earn respect from administration, we must establish a presence and collaborative support with our student organizations so when controversy comes, we can tackle the issues as unified force.
To voice your thoughts about space reallocation specifically fill out the Space Reallocation form by Nov. 20. To get more involved in building conversations of change visit SGA in its office in the Beaman or contact representatives through its website.