Get away from my alma mater, Blago

1 comment February 27th, 2008

An open letter to Gov. Rod Blagojevich

Dear Rod,

It’s great that you’re showing so much interest in the future of Cole Hall. While NIU had planned to leave the building alone for a couple months, let the stigma of the Feb. 14 events settle and then possibly reopen it in the fall for classes, you just came in and offered a - in your mind - better solution before the halls could even get cold.

You threw $40 million at NIU president John Peters and said, “Tear down that sucker and build a new one.”

Um, thanks? That’s exactly what we need? That’ll make us forget about the six lives lost and the 17 others that were wounded?

No, not at all. We all know the word “Columbine” is no longer synonymous with a flower, but instead a high school in Littleton, CO., where two teens killed 13 people. VA Tech is no longer a small college in Blacksburg, VA. It’s now a place where a gunman killed 32 people before taking his own life.

And sadly, we have to add Northern Illinois University to that list.

A college town that sits along I-88, whose city symbol is a piece of corn and whose claim to fame is - depending on who you talk to - the birth or barbed wire and Cindy Crawford’s hometown.

So Rod, you think that giving the school money to raze Cole Hall and build a new high-tech building called - get this - Memorial Hall will make you liked in the community?

Maybe the school doesn’t want a new hall. Maybe leaving Cole to stand the test of time is the best thing to keep the faith and hope alive for the 25,000 students who attend classes. Maybe you should focus all your time and energy on all these labels people are calling you these days and that big trial in Chicago.

Or maybe, maybe you should just butt out for a bit.

Knocking down a building won’t hide the fact the shootings never happened. If that’s your prerogative, tell that to Lauren Debrauwere who was released from the hospital the other day with a bullet in her chest. A bullet that is within centimeters from her heart. Go ahead, tell her.

Just because you think something is right doesn’t make it right. Ever thought of talking to the students at NIU? Maybe the professors? Maybe more than just the people who sit behind big oak desks in Altgeld Hall all day long? Those are the people who really care about NIU’s future.

It’s funny, you know. About five years ago, the school was begging you for money to improve our buildings. We couldn’t walk down hallways without kicking up floor tiles or dodging falling ceiling tiles. Leaks were as common as assigned readings. So we sat there, in our classrooms that fell apart by the day, wondering if and when we would ever get a couple bucks for some insulation so we could make it through those harsh Illinois winters.

Hey Rod, we were in such a budget crunch that paper had to be rationed. Certain professors could not call their students from their office phones. Some of us wouldn’t get in elevators because we didn’t know how safe they were.

And here you are, throwing money in the face of a national tragedy. Throwing money at friends and families who lost loved one, boyfriends, girlfriends or just someone they sat next to in class.

You’ve hit a new low, Rod.

If I could take back that vote I cast for you, I’d do it in a heartbeat.

Signed,

Collin Quick, Class of 2006

The future of Cole Hall

Add comment February 27th, 2008

On Tuesday, I attended class for the first time since the shooting Feb. 14. Everywhere I looked on campus, there were signs proclaiming, “Forward, together forward,” a message of hope taken from the lyrics of the “Huskie Fight Song.”

The university distributed black and red ribbons for students to pin on, provided counselors to give presentations in every class, and handed out reading materials on dealing with the emotional and mental impacts of violence. All of my professors lightened their students’ workload for the first week back in class. One professor canceled quizzes for the rest of the week. Another passed out an exam originally scheduled for Thursday, allotting us one week to complete it at home and hand it in. In my other classes, heavy reading and editing assignments were postponed.

Although all of this helped immensely, it was still incredibly difficult to pass right by Cole Hall on my way to classes in neighboring buildings, so I was relieved when I heard about the potential plan to demolish Cole. The future of the building has been a common topic for discussion among students since the day of the shooting. I’m not at all thrilled about Blagojevich trying to “own” the project, but I think it’s still a good project, nonetheless, even though it would certainly be best undertaken without the Gov’s – ahem – blessing.

Among the students I’ve talked to, it has been almost universally agreed upon that Cole Hall should be permanently closed, although some students are saying that it should be closed but not be razed. They argue that the structure, itself, is a memorial, but an empty, unused building is neither practical nor a memorial.

The costs of undertaking the Memorial Hall project are high, but the university needs a new facility somewhere on campus to replace Cole. Memorial Hall will not be built where Cole stood. Instead, a “green space” or memorial statue will be created there, and Memorial Hall will be constructed elsewhere.

I am taken back to the fear and chaos of Feb. 14 every time I walk past Cole Hall. A memorial built in its place would commemorate the lives of the students who died and give the NIU community a place to go and honor them.