InterVarsity has been at UNC since the 1950's. One of the great things about that is there's tons of tradition and history. One of the challenges is that there's tons of tradition and history.
Today we're doing our New Student Picnic. For eons, IV at UNC has done our New Student Picnic at Polk Place, the main quad on campus. For eons of IV at UNC alumni, the New Student Picnic at Polk Place is where they got their start in InterVarsity. And so, of course, it's a prized memory and a special event.
But this year, the University changed their policies about the use of Polk Place--no amplification allowed (there's classes that meet right around there). They also had a really old tree up and die on them out of nowhere last year. When they brought in an arborist to examine the problem, they said that it was because of all the foot traffic crushing the roots. Ergo, all events on the Quad now require that we pay hundreds of dollars to fence off the trees to protect them.
Given these factors, we're tinkering with sacred cows and moving the picnic. We're doing two picnics, actually, in two different locations at the same time this afternoon. One location is E-haus Quad, within two hundred yards of three huge high-rise-style dorms that house nearly half of the freshmen class. Being forced to re-think our locations could be the best thing that's happened to our New Student Welcome events in decades.
But when I try to explain all of this to alums, all they can think is that we've been ruined by the University and we're doing this hair-brained scheme. Of course, we might all collapse into a heap tonight after it's all said and done. But good people, I implore you, trust in the Lord to redeem the picnic!
I'll let you all know how it goes tomorrow, if I can get myself out of bed.
4 comments:
so it's kinda like unc's own Reformation . . . cool! it's always good to rethink tradition.
that sounds really awesome! at vcu we scrapped the usual cookout for a few different things this year, the result was "4 days of fun" and today we handed out freezee pops and fliers outside the dorms as freshmen went too and from classes and i had a blast. i feel like i've already met and connected with more new students than I have since i was a freshman myself!
Yes, the picnic on Polk Place is a sacred cow... but I'll refrain from lamenting and just pray the two picnics go well!
Sacred Cows make my favorite kind of Hamburgers.
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