by Nick Growall
Staff writer
Through television and movies, people my age grew up understanding college to be a time not just focused on studying our chosen fields, but a time of what some may consider “uncivilized behavior” full of long nights, bad choices and unforgettable memories. However, here at Southeastern, the town of Durant seems to have ignored our right to a great deal of the latter.
During my five years at Southeastern, I have enjoyed and appreciated a broad amount of great and various opportunities presented to me in terms of education and the honing of various skills. But in the twilight of my time on campus, I feel that I should speak my mind and confess that I, like many of my fellow classmates, feel cheated of the so-called college experience. Some of that fault lies within Southeastern’s walls, but I argue a larger portion of the blame should go to the city of magnolias itself.
Now would I consider myself a partier who’s every waking moment is spent waiting for the next opportunity to drown myself in alcohol and wake up the next morning naked in my neighbor’s Jacuzzi? Not by a long shot. I’m simply taking the stance to defend my right as a college student to partake in such debaucherous behavior if I were to choose to do so. (Apologies to the Weaver family; and no, I don’t know how your dog ended up in that tree.)
But my argument isn’t simply centered around my wish to freely raid, pillage, plunder and otherwise pilfer my weasely black guts out Jack Sparrow-style. It’s not even particularly centered around Southeastern. My argument is more concerned with the town of Durant’s lack of commitment to the large population of college students who help keep their town relevant.
Durant is a college town simply by definition, meaning that yes, there is in fact a college in the town. Yet it seems as if Durant has forgotten this fact, or are trying to ignore it. Yes, a large number of local businesses support the school and its functions, but beyond simple business moves for more advertisement, what have they done to cater to the four thousand 18 to 24-year-olds who reside here? (Not to mention the non-traditional students, but I believe my argument is more in line with the former age group’s interests)
Go to any other college town in America, and you’ll find multiple restaurants; stores and businesses whose primary target crowd are their college students. You wouldn’t even need all five fingers on one hand to count the places in Durant who share that same mindset.
When the only places in a college town that truly caters to the lifestyle of college students are a donut shop and coffee shop, it should raise some serious questions. You have thousands of young adults begging for something to do on the weekend, so much that they’re willing to drive 30 minutes (into Texas of all places) to find a place they can go that doesn’t close at 10:00 or 11:00 p.m.
But when you honestly think about it, even in terms of business, it’s just plain idiotic.
I mean, how many struggling businesses would profit from staying open late on the weekends? The only 24-hour restaurants are Whataburger and the sketchy Waffle Shoppe, and Taco Bell, McDonalds and Jack in the Box close at some point in the night.
Norman and other real college towns have places like Pizza Shuttle, which stay open late to cater specifically to college students. You can literally order a pizza at four in the morning, and they’ll even deliver it to you. You don’t think Pizza Inn could profit from having a “Midnight Buffet?” I know I’d be waiting at the door for unlimited pizza and breadsticks.
The sad truth about Durant is that the closest thing Southeastern students have in terms of a late-night hangouts are places like Cellarmans and Steel Rose in Sherman, along with their life-sized movie theater that isn’t made of cardboard, chewing gum and broken dreams. And they don’t even have a real college! (No offense, Grayson).
Looking beyond the business side of things, what college town essentially outlaws fraternities and sororities? Yes, they still exist, but the fact that the only legitimate reason I’ve heard why they’re not allowed to have their own housing is due to an urban legend of a blue law (apparently more than five or six unrelated girls in a house in Durant is considered a brothel) is ridiculous. The next thing you know, they’ll make a law against dancing, and we’ll have to hope Kevin Bacon shows at some point.
So now not only is there a lack of college-centered locales outside of campus, but they’re trying to outlaw a basic entity of college life.
Because they symbolize something for all college students: the freedom to organize, but more importantly, to be able to go a little crazy and make mistakes.
Because college is the first taste of reality many students get, and you never really know who you are until you are given the freedom to make those mistakes and learn from them.
So my question to the town of Durant, one that every Southeastern student should be asking, is “why have you forsaken us?”
You made a commitment over a century ago to bring this university to your town. And now, like the spoiled kid at Christmas who finally got that puppy he so desperately needed, you got what you whined for, and over time you got bored with it and locked it up in a crate.
And now you have the audacity to get annoyed and upset when it whines, wanting to get out and play.
The main point of college is education, but the second reason people come here is for the experience. If you’re going to commit to having something as large as a public university in your town, you should at least attempt to cater not only its needs but also those of its students. I mean, you essentially sold your town’s soul to a casino, the least you could do is sell what’s left to a bunch of young, hungry, fun-starved night owls.