Mukta Pillai
Viewpoints Editor
As August transitions into September, the final beginning of my undergraduate career starts to gain momentum. Summer hasn’t left Wooster yet, with plenty more 90 degree days and leaves still full of lush green. This year, something has changed. Something has returned after an extended absence: the famed Lowry soft serve machine. To the freshmen and sophomores, this machine may seem like another sorry case of empty promises, but the legacy of Lowry’s soft serve machine holds a greater meaning for the upperclassmen. After an entire year without it, we were finally given the chance to welcome it back.
For some, the machine provided refuge amid a schedule-packed ARCH or orientation. Sitting by the windows of Lowry faced with a view of some energized athletic teams’ practice or herds of frantic students late for some commitment, a simple bowl of soft serve ice cream comforted us all. At lunch or dinner time, students would huddle around the machine. The soft serve machine became a cornerstone of the community.
I may seem like an ice cream fanatic to some, but I do believe that we must treasure our community spaces. For one year, life went on without this nonessential machine. During that year, our campus lost invaluable staff and witnessed the restructuring of various departments. Connection and trust were lost as these sudden changes occurred without correspondence to students, faculty and staff.
In comparison, the absence of a soft-serve machine seems insignificant. And it is. There are undoubtedly more pressing issues facing students and the College than whether we can fill a bowl with vanilla ice cream after dinner.
The soft-serve machine was an institution of its own. It created a reason for students to gather, even if only for a few minutes. It gave people a place to run into friends, strike up conversations and linger after a meal. It turned an otherwise ordinary trip to the dining hall into an opportunity to see people outside of our classes and extracurriculars.
When so much of campus life feels subject to change, students need places and traditions that feel familiar. We need spaces where we can exist without having to attend a meeting, join an organization, or commit to another event. We need places where connections happen naturally.
Lowry’s new soft serve machine has not been in operation for the past three weeks of classes. Though Lowry has continued to supply this campus with frozen treats through its freezer, the machine sits as a cruel reminder of what this College used to be.
