Community Commons
Last Thursday, TCU unveiled the new Community Commons. Professional staff members from the department of Student Activities wanted to create a space where students could get out of their rooms to study, enjoy the weather, and gather safely. Thus, Community Commons was born. Outdoor patio furniture, string lights, fire pits, and a large screen television were added to the lower part of the Commons to make this vision come to life. Once Community Commons was complete, I was torn between different perspectives. As a student and future higher education professional, I LOVE Community Commons. I can spend as much time outside as I want because there's now space for me to place my computer and notebooks while I'm studying. Additionally, the lights at night are luminous enough to insure I can see all my books even when it gets dark. Also, being able to see how the ideas of the professional staff members within Student Activities came to fruition and immediately brightened the moods of the students and created a greater sense of community on campus made me excited at the possibility of this as my future career. However, as a student who is studying the idea of nature and wildness, I'm not sure how I feel about Community Commons.
Edward Abbey wrote about how nature needs to be undisturbed; the implementation of roads and the likes inherently kills the wildness of nature. So I don't think Edward Abbey would love the idea of a bunch of patio furniture being added to one of our most prominent green spaces on campus. Now if I'm really honest with myself, Edward Abbey wouldn't have even liked the Commons to begin with. It's a space that was created; that patch of grass in front of Scharbauer was a parking lot before it was known as the Commons. There is nothing wild about the TCU Commons. However, I think due to the lack of wilderness around TCU's campus, Abbey would prefer the Commons over some of our other spaces. But now that we've added things to make our already-tame Commons less "wild," I believe Abbey would be disappointed. Patio furniture is nice, but what's wrong with sitting on the grass? String lights are really pretty at night and help us see, but wouldn't starlight be better? It's nice to be able to watch movies and football games on the big screen in the Commons, but why can't we just sit and enjoy the nature around us? These are all questions I think Edward Abbey would propose if he saw our Community Commons today.
I don't think it's a bad thing to enjoy the Community Commons. Sometimes it's nice to be able to sit outside and hang out with friends without standing up with your back hurting because you didn't have anything to rest against as you were conversing. However, I think it's important to have a balance of tame nature and wild nature. If we were to only spend our time in the domesticated nature like the Community Commons, we would be in for quite the rude awakening if we were to ever journey into the real wilderness. So will I still spend time outside in the Community Commons to do homework, hang out with friends, and watch Halloween movies? Of course I will, but I will also make sure to spend time exploring the less-docile realms of nature.
I honestly hadn't heard about this. I guess that's what living off campus does haha. I'm actually quite disappointed to hear about this. I feel like the commons were one of the only places on campus to run around, throw the baseball, play spikeball, hang a hammock, etc. Maybe there's still room to enjoy these things, but not near as peacefully. I feel like these opportunities have been stripped from us. I feel like there are plenty of other places around campus already conducive to what they were trying to achieve.
ReplyDeleteI agree, there's a lot less room now to throw a frisbee around or anything like that. But luckily the upper part of the Commons between Carter/Wright is free of furniture so we still have some open space. However, the Commons are constantly crowded now, and I miss the days my friends and I were the only ones sitting out there on our own blankets/towels.
DeleteGreat post, thanks. I enjoyed your ambivalence. I have not been over in that area of campus, so I have not yet seen the Community Commons. but I do applaud Student Affairs and TCU for providing a space to get outside. So many people feel trapped inside, or stay inside sitting by their terminals. But it is a trade-ff, a compromise. I think HDT and Abbey would both be appalled at our urban lifestyles, but they would also accept that being outside under any conditions was better than being a slace inside.
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