Student Vigilantism

I just wanted to make note of a few acts of student vigilantism that was shared on Tembusu's facebook group. Over the past two or three weeks there has been a couple of posts that highlighted the misuse of Tembusu's facilities (namely, the lounges, the toilets and the games room). There's also a rather hostile-sounding note in the level 5 pantry warning inconsiderate users of public shaming...

I'm actually quite proud of this! Though I'm not so sure about the threats in the pantry. But it's good that students are stepping up to defend their communal spaces. I think this kind of "student vigilantism" is an important force that will help keep things in order. It reflects a pride for the community.

What would be ideal is if more students held themselves to the same level of pride for the college. Sure, there will always be a few who are reckless, or has reckless friends who they invite to the college. Regardless, if they can see that this space is fiercely defended by its inhabitants, then at least they might think twice before they actually do something reckless.

Of course there are limits to how far this pride should go. I'm happy that the posts on facebook had not resorted to naming and shaming, even though they could. I think that's pretty extreme, and shouldn't be resorted to unless necessary. In which case the perpetrator would have had to be pretty serious multiple offender of sorts.

But good job anyway, Tembusu.

(Revising) Great Expectations

As we all know the end of the academic year is drawing close. With that there has been some talk of the next big CSC event for the summer break: orientation. I've talked about orientation previously, but the resurgent interest in the topic warrants further discussion.

The way I see it, there are two main points of concern regarding orientation: what orientation should be like (design), and why (motivation). In this post, I want to address the second part on motivations, but in terms of the expectations of the freshmen's role in the college.