Earlier this year at the Spring Town Meeting, the Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center Theater was packed to capacity. It was so full, in fact, that members of the community were forced to wait outside. At the time, there were questions as to why the Spring Town Meeting was not held in the main concert hall, as to accommodate everyone. Last week, we were reminded of the answer.
The attendance at this past Fall Town Meeting was disappointing. It’s no wonder that President Shirley Ann Jackson chose to hold the meeting in the smaller EMPAC Theater—one of our editors had an entire row all to himself for the entire meeting. At best, the room was half full.
So, after one successful event, are RPI students back to apathy? The Fall Town Meeting is one of the best ways to demonstrate how much the student body cares about the well-being of the Institute. The lack of attendance sends the wrong message. It says: we’re a community that loves to come out and protest, as long as we can yell and shout about how angry we are—but when it comes to following through with the message and showing passion for our institution, we look down at our notes and pretend to deeply consider the question.