IPFW: Make a Tradition, Gain Interest in College Life

The quality and often times quantity of college life typically surrounds tradition.
Over 39,000 people attend Purdue's yearly Spring Fest, and education and socialization combine for the Grand Prix that's been a tradition for over 50 years.
At Indiana University-Bloomington, the Little 500 bike race has had famous attendees like musician John Mellencamp, talk show host David Letterman and President Barack Obama among the 25,000+ other visitors and participants.
Not to mention IU is one of the top 10 college sports towns and Purdue is part of the Big Ten conference.
But, what traditions does IPFW, a combination of Purdue and IU, have? IPFW is technically a commuter college, though it seems to only keep that title as an excuse for not creating long-standing traditions and holding annual events that attract thousands, considering there are over 14,000 students enrolled, multiple new dorm buildings, apartment complexes and area businesses that cater to college students near by.
It's time to change that lack of enthusiasm for the campus. It's time to make traditions, begin to connect -- without a lecture -- to the surrounding community and attract the people and publicity that a school of its size deserves. The smoke huts shouldn't be the only places on campus to connect with people.

Lonesome on Campus: A Preview

Tom Petty said one thing that’s really important for IPFW students to hear:

"You have four years to be irresponsible here. Relax. Work is for people with jobs. You’ll never remember class time, but you’ll remember time you wasted hanging out with your friends. So, stay out late. Go out on a Tuesday with your friends when you have a paper due Wednesday. Spend money you don’t have. Drink ‘til sunrise. The work never ends, but college does…"

Being a non-traditional college, IPFW doesn’t get a lot of people who, frankly, aren’t studious -- people who want to go wander around town with their friends, drink and party to their degrees. Or, maybe we just can’t cater to their wants.
Keith Seitz, a student from the 1960-1970s, told The Communicator that “issues facing students today are the same as those existent when he attended.”*
Seitz said there were problems with parking, food options and one that we don’t have any more: socialization. No, there wasn’t a lack of it -- it was in abundance. He said there were many people who were flunking out because everyone would just hangout together and skip their classes to play cards, football, etc., with friends. Finally, he said many people would hang out on campus all day, because it was a fun place to be.
IPFW was still a commuter college at that time, and now it has added dorms and about 14,000 students. Yet, if students aren’t getting free food, many seem to pass up any social life on campus for alone time in their dorms or driving back home.
Given, the city surrounding and the layout of a school that was planned for being perfect for commuters, times have changed and students aren’t getting the socialization that is known as college.
Except for the huts. Conversations, card games, study sessions, debates, insane arguments and other such fun happens hourly in each one, doing its small part toward creating a college life for all tuition-payers.

*Editing errors in The Communicator's issue turned socialization into a lack thereof. Seitz had meant too much socialization.