Weekends on campus

It's Friday at 5:30 p.m. at FSU and all that can be heard are the obnoxious sounds of squirrels scrounging for food and the last of the day's construction work. What do you see? Nothing - two or three people and certainly no students.

Framingham State has been known as a suitcase campus since my Mom attended the college in the eighties and that was when there was no alcohol policy. Over twenty years later it's doubtful students are any more interested in being on campus on the weekends than they were then.

While other colleges and universities offer weekend activities exclusively for students, such as bingo, movies and trips, FSU continues to hold nothing on the weekends besides the rare dance once a semester or Hilltop performance on a Saturday evening.

Frankly, if the administration wants FSU to look like a student-friendly campus bustling with activity, they aren't doing a good job. Any prospective students who take tours on Friday afternoons or Saturday mornings are likely wondering whether students even live here.

Students at FSU don't just go home because of the university's strict alcohol policy. Most of them don't necessarily want to drink like fish, but just want something to do. Events should be held on the weekends for students. If there were events offered, students would likely opt to stay over the weekend and attend them.

Hosting a Saturday night Bingo event, Casino Night or offering discounted weekend sporting events tickets would likely keep many students on campus. Additionally, by not shutting the creepy looking gate and providing more than omelettes, cold cereal and pasta for brunch might keep students on campus.

Offering shuttle services to the mall and movies would provide freshmen and other students without cars on campus access to weekend entertainment.

FSU is not student friendly. Clubs are pften discouraged from planning weekend events because they're thought to be unsuccessful, and the "Black and Gold Weekends" often offer less than exciting events for students to attend.

Maybe the administration and SILD should consider providing students with an alternative to sitting in their prison-cell dorm rooms or going home if they want to encourage high schoolers and transfers to call FSU home.