Putting "Denison" back in D-Day
Issue date: 11/10/09 Section: Editorials
D-Day. A huge concert in the fall, meant to bring our little campus together for one night of fun.
This is how it's supposed to be, but it's never been that easy. The student body is never pleased by whatever band is playing, and besides, how can one band possibly unite the entire campus?
This year, more problems have played into the concert's postponement until next semester, breaking our yearly fall tradition.
But D-Day's difficulties speak to a bigger problem on Denison's campus: defining our identity as a collective student body - or lack thereof.
Though the "D" stands for Denison, the event's name often seems to be the only place where one can see our college's role. It's not really about Denison, about pride in our campus; it's just about a concert, one night only.
D-Day is supposed to be about school spirit, but let's face it: we don't have any. One walk through downtown Granville will make it clear that Granville High School has more spirit than we do; they have signs all over the town supporting the Blue Aces in all of their sporty endeavors.
We don't even have signs supporting our sports teams on campus, let alone in Granville. Our sports teams get little-to-no support, or even any thanks. Take our soccer team for example - they've been fantastic all semester, and they won the NCAC Championships this past weekend, but did you see any chalk on the sidewalks wishing them luck? Do you see a sign in Slayter Union congratulating them? Denison's sports teams go the extra mile for us; why can't we do the same for them?
And to take it one step further, what about everything else that happens on this campus? We all get the e-mail every Monday outlining the week's events, but how many of us simply delete that e-mail and move on?
Take for example everything that goes on at the Bandersnatch. Every Wednesday night is is programmed with live music, but how many of us can honestly say we've gone to one of those nights so far this semester? And this past Thursday, Amor Jones played for a nearly-empty 'Snatch. Both the Bandersnatch and UPC have put a lot of time and effort into bringing musicians to Denison that students will enjoy. Why weren't we there?
This is how it's supposed to be, but it's never been that easy. The student body is never pleased by whatever band is playing, and besides, how can one band possibly unite the entire campus?
This year, more problems have played into the concert's postponement until next semester, breaking our yearly fall tradition.
But D-Day's difficulties speak to a bigger problem on Denison's campus: defining our identity as a collective student body - or lack thereof.
Though the "D" stands for Denison, the event's name often seems to be the only place where one can see our college's role. It's not really about Denison, about pride in our campus; it's just about a concert, one night only.
D-Day is supposed to be about school spirit, but let's face it: we don't have any. One walk through downtown Granville will make it clear that Granville High School has more spirit than we do; they have signs all over the town supporting the Blue Aces in all of their sporty endeavors.
We don't even have signs supporting our sports teams on campus, let alone in Granville. Our sports teams get little-to-no support, or even any thanks. Take our soccer team for example - they've been fantastic all semester, and they won the NCAC Championships this past weekend, but did you see any chalk on the sidewalks wishing them luck? Do you see a sign in Slayter Union congratulating them? Denison's sports teams go the extra mile for us; why can't we do the same for them?
And to take it one step further, what about everything else that happens on this campus? We all get the e-mail every Monday outlining the week's events, but how many of us simply delete that e-mail and move on?
Take for example everything that goes on at the Bandersnatch. Every Wednesday night is is programmed with live music, but how many of us can honestly say we've gone to one of those nights so far this semester? And this past Thursday, Amor Jones played for a nearly-empty 'Snatch. Both the Bandersnatch and UPC have put a lot of time and effort into bringing musicians to Denison that students will enjoy. Why weren't we there?
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