The Monday before spring break, I along with about half the students on campus, was required to attend an informational presentation about the possibility of a flu pandemic given by a visitor to our campus.
The meeting lasted about 45 minutes, and I couldn’t help but be appalled at the crowd’s reaction.
About 15 minutes into the presentation, chatter, giggle fits and ringtones alerting recipients of new text messages filled the room.
I’ll admit a bird flu forum wasn’t something I was looking forward to, and since my Monday-night load was a little less than usual, the last thing I wanted to do to celebrate was learn how to prepare for a disease that’s still a world away.
But that shouldn’t give anyone a reason to disrespect a campus guest.
This isn’t the first time I’ve been embarrassed to be sitting in a crowd of my fellow Baker students.
It seems some of my peers don’t understand the need to show respect for campus visitors, be they guest speakers or athletes and their fans.
You may recall the soccer game several Baker fans were asked to leave after they yelled various obscenities at the officials and opposing team.
Then there was the time last month I was sitting at a basketball game with a group of friends.
I overheard someone tell the woman next to me not to clap when the other team did something right because “that’s not our team!” The woman next to me politely asked what the other team must think of us here at Baker when the only impression they have is of us ever so cleverly adding “sucks” to the end of its “M-N-U” cheer – even though our 31-point loss and the impressive play by the other team proved otherwise.
The impression of Baker we give guests needs to be positive and a little more realistic.
It’s interesting to describe the atmosphere of the campus to those who have never been here.
The description of the friendly, smile-at-people-who-walk-by-even-if-you’ve-never-seen-them-before-in-your-life attitude takes those from larger campuses or bigger cities pleasantly by surprise.
The fact that certain members of our population can’t help but act like second-graders in public says the exact opposite to those visiting our campus.
I would be the last person to tell anyone they should be completely unresponsive at any event they attend to show how polite we aren’t.
I, of all people, understand the intensity of a basketball game sometimes leads to completely irrational and unusual behavior, especially when the opposing team is a rival whose fans are out of control. I also know what it’s like to be bored to death as part of a not-so-captive audience.
But rude remarks and utter disrespect do nothing but give Baker a bad image.
If I were to give a presentation to an audience that reacted like the forum’s crowd, it would be the last time I ever set foot on the campus.