On Thursday, the Student Activities Council hosted its third annual “Build-a-Friend” event at the Rhatigan Student Center. The event was scheduled from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. but when I came running from class to attend at noon, I couldn’t find the event.
In my search, I found another girl and asked her where the event was being held. She told me we had missed it and it had shut down at noon because they ran out of stuffed bears.
A lot of the events hosted by the RSC are held later in the morning to early afternoon, but is this the best time for most students? The answer appears to be no. A lot of people, like me, take earlier classes between 9:30 a.m. and noon. So these students either are unable to attend or choose to skip classes to go.
This can leave students feeling excluded because of their schedule. I believe events in the RSC are missing out on a large group of students. These events are meant to build community, but when they are hosted at the same time as many morning classes, they are dividing the chances of creating that space for students.
Cloud Walker, a freshman, agrees many of these events have poor scheduling.
“I’m normally in class when they do their events,” Walker said. “They should put them more towards the evening to give people more time to decide whether or not they want to go.”
If the groups hosting events want to serve the students, they need to start listening to them. At the end of the day, not everyone is going to be able to attend every event but more effort should be put into giving students the opportunity. College is already a stressful time, so why make it harder with timing conflicts?
