By Kennedy Thomason
Elm Staff Writer
As with most circumstances these days, the experience of life on campus at Washington College can be divided into two categories: pre-COVID-19 and post-COVID-19.
One of the aspects that has been slow to bounce back is the College’s relationship with the broader Kent County community. It is just easier, understandably, to isolate and self-preserve rather than make the effort to intermingle with the hesitant public. However, it is becoming increasingly clear that colleges and universities have a unique obligation to benefit the towns that house them.
Some of the initiatives that seek to counteract the student body’s isolationism are an on-campus farmer’s market, the Banned Books Club, and the Next Chapter Book Club. Each of these projects aims to bring community members and students together.
“Our relationship isn’t bad by any means, but we can always try to iterate and improve,” Community Coordinator of Residential Life Michael Nichols said.
Nichols is the leading voice for an effort for an integrated on-campus farmer’s market. As he defines it, a farmer’s market is “a hub of community engagement, as well as a platform for people to showcase wonderful productions of art, food, and camaraderie.”
He plans to simply draw from Chestertown’s existing highly successful market, occasionally bringing it to campus for students to enjoy and have the opportunity to share their own goods.
“This could also be a good opportunity to work toward incorporating student vendors into the market, and also providing individuals with mobility issues an opportunity to attend,” he said.
Similarly, the Clifton M. Miller Library has answered the call for increased civic engagement. Two new book clubs were established that accept anyone who wishes to attend. Public Services Librarian Andrea Boothby Rice brought the Next Chapter Book Club to campus, which invites local adults with developmental disabilities to participate and receive support.
Also launched recently is the Banned Books Club. Alexandria Baker, Director of Public Services and Faculty Librarian in STEM at Miller Library says that the Banned Books Club “invites everyone to explore highly contested texts and the implications of censorship.”
When it comes to higher education, the general assumption has been that educating young minds is doing a service globally, making the world a better place for all. However, there is a new philosophy that challenges this broadness. What if educational institutions used their resources and students for the betterment of their local communities, changing the world one town at a time?
In an article written for PBS, Jon Marcus argues that colleges can do much more good for both humanity and themselves if they switch to this frame of thinking. Colleges harbor resources such as big bank accounts, networks of people with influence, employment opportunities, respectable research facilities, the ability to use local vendors, and large donors, among other things. All of these can be used to benefit — and boost the economy of — the very real towns that surround these institutions.
According to the same PBS article, allowing communities that house college campuses to deteriorate will only drive down enrollment numbers. This would also provide some much-needed positive PR, as according to Marcus, “nearly six in ten Americans say colleges today care mainly
about the bottom line, and 44 percent think they’re wasteful and inefficient.” College campuses must invest in giving back, and by doing so will be investing in themselves as well.
It is hard as a student to understand how our existence may inconvenience the community around us, but I urge you to just stop for a moment to consider our footprint. The locals must face the ramifications of WC’s existence physically: traffic, land use, pollution or other environmental concerns, overcrowding, constant stops at crosswalks, and other interruptive actions. We cannot ignore the justified weariness about the student’s behavior or the credibility of the college itself.
Institutions such as the Starr Center for the Study of the American Experience dissect Chestertown and Kent County as a means of education, and while they do beautiful work, it is important to remember that Chestertown is more than an experimental trial, and we must give back both as a means of thanks and reassurance of WC’s legitimacy.
The College is ahead of the curve when it comes to community involvement. The farmer’s market and book clubs will only strengthen the college’s commitment.
Next Chapter Book Club meets on Wednesdays from 10 a.m. to11 a.m. on the main floor of the Miller Library in the Newlin Room. The Banned Books Club meets certain Thursdays, with the next two meetings coming up on Oct. 26 and Nov. 30 at 4 p.m., also in the Newlin Room. For more information, follow @washcoll_lat and @wacbookclub on Instagram.
The farmer’s market is still in the planning stages. Nichols says that he is “currently talking with the regular farmer’s market vendors to show them that there’s enough interest to warrant them coming out here.” As not to disrupt the town’s market, Nichols plans on having it take place on campus on a once-per-semester schedule, but there is no set date or time yet.
These initiatives are another step in the right direction to shepherd in positive relationships between students and locals in the wake of COVID-19 isolationism.
Photo by Olivia Long
Photo Caption: Miller Library will continue to host book clubs throughout the semester, effectively uniting students with the town.