Ashanti Wallace
From lackluster conditions in my house to a diminishing party scene thanks to the newly implemented party policy, my grievances with The College of Wooster seem to grow more and more every day. After three years at this institution, being instilled with the philosophy that independent minds must work together, I unfortunately am constantly hit with the reality that this is sometimes not true. Please do not misunderstand me, I would love to think that the College upholds such ideals. Recently, however, I have been given reason to believe that the student body could do better to manifest this ideology. We cannot forget to value and support the people that upkeep the very place we all know and love: The College of Wooster maintenance staff.
As an avid patron of Mom’s and a resident of an organization house, I have come to develop relationships with several members of COW staff. They are all wonderful, dedicated individuals who do their absolute best to ensure the comfort of all students on campus. It is for this reason that it pains me to have to hear some of the harsh, and sometimes simply unfair, conditions in which they must work.
Being a frequent customer at Mom’s Truck Stop, I have sat in Mom’s through the calmest of times and the craziest of rush hours. One thing that seems apparent from my perspective and many other students’ is that Mom’s simply does not have enough employees. Mom’s employees are expected to cook, clean, take our orders, and get these orders to customers in an appropriate amount of time. This may seem like very mundane tasks, but, what happens at night when most students are up late hungry and studying or drinking on the weekend? They turn to Mom’s. It is very evident that Mom’s workers love the students here and appreciate our company. However, it is important that we actively ask ourselves how we as students and as administrators show support and appreciation for all of our non-academic staff members. It is unfair for three people to be on duty on a Friday or Saturday night when that is Mom’s busiest times and to expect them to service all the students and still clean by 4 a.m. As an institution, we pride ourselves on having a great student to teacher ratio, and if we are a campus community both academically and non-academically, then we should fight to have those same ratios instilled in all areas of campus life.
The same can be said for our custodial staff. I can recall having long conversations with custodial members who have informed me of the long mornings they had cleaning an entire strip of houses on their own. While I do not have solid evidence of this claim, if this is true, I find this to be completely outrageous. Certainly more than one person is necessary for taking on such a task.
This is especially pertinent in the case of houses whose residents are extremely disorderly. I have heard from countless members of staff and students alike who have told me about the horrid conditions that some houses are left in. If I were in their places, I would hope that the school would be there to support me and therefore suggest that this same consideration be taken with our own current staff.
It is my hope that the administration of the College will do a better job of providing the necessary resources and manpower needed to not only get the job done effectively, but to the most comfortable capacity. No one can do it all alone, and it is simply my wish that the College provide more of a helping hand.