By Jeff Kontz, senior
The tradition of “Walk Out” has been around Friends University since the 1950s and has been a way for students to celebrate the achievement of an athletic team winning a conference championship. That tradition is now under review by a special committee of students and several faculty members.
"The main concern from President T.J. Arant is to try and create a more even set of guidelines to take advantage of this opportunity to spark more community on campus," said Sam Weeks, student chair of the Walk Out committee.
The first of several meetings of this committee took place on Jan. 31 and the entire tradition was discussed. The goal is to look into Walk Outs and see what fine tuning can be done to the event.
Many angles were looked at including how to include groups and clubs on campus instead of making the event just about athletics. Also, even some athletic teams are excluded from earning a Walk Out because of the requirements that were drawn up decades ago. Other topics discussed in the meeting regarded whether the event should be a surprise for students and faculty or a planned event.
Accounting professor, Nicole Pendleton, expressed her opinion regarding if the Walk Out was a planned date. "I really like the element of surprise and excitement but from a teaching standpoint it would be nice to know ahead of time sometimes." The entire committee echoed that if possible under the new guidelines being made, the event should be kept a surprise to students.
Although this was the first meeting, a lot of progress was made and some options were eliminated and others were bookmarked to revisit next week. The committee will meet throughout February and have a final Walk Out plan before Spring Break.
Weeks will communicate the concerns of both faculty and students to the Vice President of Student Affairs, Dr. Carole Obermeyer throughout the entire process. Hopefully a resolution will be made that satisfies the entire campus while still keeping the unique and exciting tradition that Friends has carried on for decades. Check back for updates after future meetings.