Editor’s note: This article was initially published in The Daily Gazette, Swarthmore’s online, daily newspaper founded in Fall 1996. As of Fall 2018, the DG has merged with The Phoenix. See the about page to read more about the DG.
Over the past semester, issues have divided our tight-knit community. We have been torn over divestment. We have struggled through disassociating with Hillel International. We have dealt with rumblings of awful housing changes. But let us not forget one of our campus’s most recent controversies. One that brought us all together as Swatties (well…not ALL of us): the Crum Creek Meander.
Together we ridiculed. We swung on. We graffitied all over. We hooked up in. We ran through. We danced between. The Crum Creek Meander brought us all together. Sure, it did it through hate, but we were TOGETHER, right?
I feel like our campus is toxic. Nowhere is safe. I walk to the water fountain and hear Mountain Justice chanting some obnoxious chant about divestment. I go on The Daily Gazette’s comment section and see anonymous comment wars on whether “young Jews care about Israel.” I get countless Facebook notifications from whiny freshmen complaining about how they can’t block into Wharton (ugh, the STRUGGLE!). In order to come back from these divisions, we must turn to the Meander.
Remember those times we were united about the fact that the Meander was campus’ spimple? Remember all your tour guide friends complaining how they unsuccessfully tried to divert attention from the installation? Let us try to have that campus unity once again. Forget all of these conflicts that have split campus over the past few months.
In just a few months, the class of 2019 will arrive on campus and will have no memory of the Meander.
Breathe in. Lay down. And remember the Meander.
Featured image courtesy of https://learn2balance.files.wordpress.com.
