Ariana Rodriguez | Staff Writer
FIU’s student life and engagement events are lackluster for the majority of the year aside from the fall semester. When students commute hours in agonizing traffic or spend thousands to live on campus, a lively campus is the bare minimum.
I understand that fall semester admittance is competitive compared to spring and summer, but that doesn’t mean the other semesters don’t deserve recognition. Getting into any university is hard work, especially for first-generation students who make up 1/3 of FIU’s population.
For this spring, I noticed that the Week of Welcome events were pretty lackluster. The majority of the exciting events, such as Fun Under the Sun or Foam Run, are not even being held at MMC. Each day seems stacked but a closer look at the events doesn’t appeal to the majority of the student body.
Aside from Greek events, which if you’re not going Greek there’s no point in attending, there’s very little and it’s extremely disappointing. It feels like Student Programming Council isn’t what it used to be.
I can recall when SPC was the hit organization on campus, and people would run to their giveaways. And they gave away items like shirts and hats, not just buttons and stickers. So what happened?
The Graham Center was always packed with tables and giveaways, and I recall getting free T-shirts from all the different offices on campus. I even have a shirt that says “Panther Territory” in blue/gold colors from the Veteran and Military Affairs office.
In 2021, FIU and the world was still recovering from COVID, so it made sense that FIU went all out for that year and 2022.
However, that still isn’t an excuse for the lack of student life and events happening on campus, especially during spring and summer semesters. Not to mention Panthermonium being cancelled for 2 years in a row.
In regard to spring, the only notable event during the Week of Welcome is the Tip-off Tailgate event for the men’s basketball team.
Student life and exciting events on campus are vital to the college experience, especially for commuters who drive long distances to class.
If a person drove an hour to and back for a 50 minute class, it makes sense why they would be frustrated that nothing else is going on.
The first week of classes shouldn’t be the only exciting week during the entire semester.
Since FIU is largely a commuter school, I can see why there would be a lack of big events and consequently less activities on campus to enjoy. However, commuters deserve the college experience just as much as students living on campus.
Commuters deserve to feel hyped for their school and indulge in student life, and most importantly every student should feel at home and welcomed.
DISCLAIMER:
The opinions presented on this page do not represent the views of the PantherNOW Editorial Board. These views are separate from editorials and reflect individual perspectives of contributing writers and/or members of the University community.
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