What Will Be the Cost?

What will be the cost of losing the personal, face-to-face interaction in college life?

When I sat down to write about the college student and community, I found myself feeling like I was somewhat lost in today’s sense of community. Being “slightly” older than most college students, I fear my thoughts may seem somewhat outdated to most of you. But here goes…

When I visualize the word “community,” I see a group of people with a common interest sharing their lives with one another. The basis of a community is having something in common – a common place, a common interest, a common distinction. Technology has most certainly had a tremendous impact on how the college student communicates, thus impacting the meaning of community. The internet, email, social networking, and the like are rapidly replacing the personal communication. Sure, social networking may possibly be increasing the size of the social circle, but each individual has only the information which the other person decides to release. Putting thoughts on paper or sending them via some other form of technological communication cannot completely replace the value of face-to-face contact. No matter how personal the written word, it cannot replace the true emotion found when looking into someone’s eyes. This is true whether you are talking to a friend or trying to relate something to your instructor. Be honest, how many times have your tried to write an email and were afraid your written words might be taken the wrong way? It happens to all of us.

There is much to be lost if we take the physical community out of college life. My favorite quote about community comes from the well known author, D. H. Lawrence who wrote, “He thought that, because the community represents millions of people, therefore it must be millions of times more important than the individual, forgetting that the community is an abstraction from the many, and is not the many themselves.” The campus community is not the entity itself, but rather the individuals who make up the community. The campus community is essential in maintaining the true feeling of belonging to a university. It can be a fraternity or sorority, a floor in a dormitory, a social organization, friends from your class, or those special friends that get together to plan their weekend together. The bonds developed on the campus community will never be replaced by the virtual community. They will simply be lost.

"…The University is buildings, trees and people. Ole Miss is mood, emotion and personality. One is physical, and the other is spiritual. One is tangible and the other intangible. The University is respected, but Ole Miss is loved. The University gives a diploma and regretfully terminates tenure, but one never graduates from Ole Miss." Frank E. Everett, Jr.