Reading through The Lantern Monday, a certain story caught my eye. On the front page there was an article about the first ever “Buckeye Ball” held last Friday aimed at “building a strong sense of community in the residence halls” according to Undergraduate Student Government President Aftab Pureval. Though the piece alluded to the event being a success with 150 people attending, there was a problem – It also mentioned gift cards were to be given to the first 400 through the door. Hmm. I don’t mean to pick on the Buckeye Ball, its organizers or its sponsor (USG), but it seems indicative of many of these “community building” events we have. These programs just don’t work.

Before the hate mail arrives in my inbox, let me clarify what I mean. There is a small percentage of this university that really enjoys these sorts of events and for that reason, they should continue. But let’s be honest, the attendance numbers demonstrate that coming back to campus on a Friday night just doesn’t appeal to most students. It has nothing to do with the type of programming or the advertising, it’s just the reality we’re dealing with. So how do we bring in the students – most of us – that just are not interested in the standard fare offered by USG, Ohio Union Activity Board and various other acronym-themed groups? I think there is a way to make these folks feel like there is a real community here.

As I write this (Wednesday) I have received no less than 14 (count ’em, 14) newsletters, announcements, and/or reminders from various OSU organizations in my inbox. Now, some of this is because of me being extremely, um, “loose” with my e-mail address during Welcome Week my freshman year but my guess is most of us get a similar amount. What’s interesting is that not one of these e-mails is actually to “me.” That’s not a complaint, merely an observation. At a school this size, mass mailings are just about the only way to efficiently “spread the word.” And all the better if they don’t start with “Dear SIMONS JEREMY J.”

The problem is, when the university does have the opportunity to personally connect with students, it fails. Case in point: Every now and then I make the Dean’s List. Now, I know nothing about my dean and why he or she is keeping my name on a list (Homeland Security?) but that’s not the point. About six to eight weeks after making the list, I get a letter in the mail that starts “Dear Jeremy,” and contains some ridiculous prose like “I was pleased to see your marks while reviewing your grades” and what not. The problem? It is so unbelievably generic that it sends the message “a few thousand other people are getting the exact same thing and I’m not even going to pretend to hide that from you.” The photocopied signature doesn’t help either.

My high school was also a fairly large place. With 1600 students, it was hard for the administration (in this case the principal) to connect with students. She would never be able to learn everyone’s name. I remember one quarter when we got our report cards from homeroom, we saw that we all had a special message written on them. Whether it was “nice work” or “you can do better in English,” it showed she took the time to sit down in front of a stack of grades and write something to every student. It showed she cared.

So here’s a message to the university administration: Show us you care. It doesn’t have to be much. When you send us something in the mail, take the two seconds to actually sign it. For many of us living off campus, with jobs and social lives, this is how we interact with the university, not through programming. But if your correspondence has the same level of “personalization” as our good friends at Citibank, then be prepared for the consequences. I remember in one of my 14 emails was an announcement about helping to search for a new executive dean. Why on earth would I care about someone who, aside from making a list and checking it twice, doesn’t even pretend to care about me?

Jeremy Simons is a senior in philosophy and political science. He can be reached for comment at [email protected].