EDITORIAL: Respect our time, Loyola

Celina Watkins

Mark Michel, Op/Ed Editor
April 15, 2023

The Window is dead.

Those words, undoubtedly, are meaningless to many students on campus.

Equally certain, though, those words just made the blood run cold for student leaders and organizers alike.

For the uninitiated, The Window is the block of time on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 12:30 to 2 p.m. when no classes are scheduled. For some, that may simply be a convenient time for many students to finally figure out the Bird N Brine app, but for generations of student leaders, The Window has been when organizations meet, presentations are made, socials are held, and things get done.

The administration assures us The Window had to die. And for what it’s worth, we have to take them at their word. They tell us there were no other options to fit in all the classes now that construction on the new residence hall is going to begin, taking all the pool classrooms that are now in Mercy Hall out of circulation.

We are sure they explored every option. Surely this isn’t just the result of lazy teachers insisting on Tuesday-Thursday schedules over Monday-Wednesday-Friday schedules because they can’t be bothered to teach three days a week. And we are sure that every spare space on campus that could be flexed into classroom space has been explored and so flexed.

OK, perhaps The Window had to die.

But here’s the thing. The Window was more than just a time to stop and eat. The Window represented the social and co-curricular lifeblood of Loyola. Taking it away needs to come with more than just a shrug and an assurance that, well, we did our best and that’s just what has to happen.

So, here is what we, the Loyola students need: we need some way to keep that organizational lifeblood flowing. If we can’t meet from 12:30 to 2 like generations of Loyolans before us, we need answers.

Killing the window can’t mean killing Loyola’s soul in the process.

As we enter into a new administration led by the President-elect Xavier Cole, we hope they will make decisions that will take into consideration the effects on students, faculty, and our community as a whole.