Loyola students have an identity crisis? Since when? According to past issues of The Maroon, it would seem that our student body needs a pair of handcuffs, a chilled glass or maybe a nice dime sack. Every week there is another article that alternately criticizes or applauds my fellow students for one thing or another – ranging from meritorious academic advancements to disreputable social behavior. A student column a couple of weeks ago claimed that our student body has an “identity crisis” that we need to shake. The author’s suggestion was to raise our glasses and toast the city’s fine history of alcoholism and debauchery – as if such events defined us to begin with.
If we go by the opinion of nola.com user “skarnik” (quoted in “Triple Jeopardy” in the Oct. 12 edition of The Maroon), Loyola students are “morons … (majoring) in bong hits and Phish music,” obsessed with “tree-hugging scheduling” and whatnot. I must admit this description made me spray Mexican shade-grown coffee out of my nose in laughter, but when you think about it, he or she may be on to something. I mean, let’s be honest: last year’s Loyolapalooza on April 20 was renamed “Gaiapalooza,” for the upcoming Earth Day. But I digress.
Apparently, skarnik didn’t attend the recent justification session for the Richard Frank Grant, where students presented what they intended to do with the grant, should they receive it. Loyola students from varying disciplines proposed an array of directions, all with equally interesting, creative and critical outcomes; students from fine arts planned to invite a key-note speaker, and one student questioned the effect of aerosols (minute particles in the atmosphere) on cloud condensation.
What about this “identity crisis?” I don’t see anything of the sort. I invite the author of that column to the Columns Hotel on Nov. 6, where “1718” – a literary society started and maintained by the efforts of Loyola and Tulane students that hosts a novelist or poet of critical acclaim to read their work – is held. Louisiana Poet Laureate Brenda Marie Osbey and local New Orleans legend Poppy Z. Brite have both read in the past. The Nov. 6 reading features Roger Kamenetz, recipient of the National Jewish Book award. There is nothing close to an identity crisis in the tiny room off the hotel patio; however, there is an abundance of energy, intellectual dynamism and friendship. And yes, there’s a full-service bar nearby, but people come for the words, not the booze.
Where does the criticism of my fellow students come from? These critics wouldn’t be so quick to judge if they heard performances by our music students. I doubt they are familiar with the late Thelonious Monk – one of the greats of jazz. His famous Institute of Jazz has branched into Loyola, and the results are impressive. What an honor that such a prestigious institute of study would come here. And it’s jazz, too – a music form with an elevated expression and complex language redolent of poetry. That means we got sophistication, baby.
I read The Maroon every week, eager to read the latest dirt someone’s got on my peers. I would suggest to anyone who thinks they know what it’s like to be a student at Loyola to consider the bigger picture. What did you come here to do? I’m proud to attend this university, for no reasons other than my own. I came here to advance my knowledge as far as possible in four years. So the next time you Loyola students wake up hung-over, or your fingers stick to your iPod because of an eventful afternoon, remember who you are and why you’re here. New Orleans is a wonderful city in which to be young, but this is an excellent school to attend.
Ben Sines is an English writing
sophomore.
