Starting college in 2020, I remember my upperclassmen friends telling me about all the fun experiences I had to look forward to once we came to the other side of the pandemic. In the past four years, there seems to have been
a slip in Anselmian traditions. Do not get me wrong, this is still a great community and I feel blessed to be part of it, but there have been some noticeable changes.

One significant loss I’d like to highlight is students no longer being able to stay on campus for the brief period of time between finals and graduation. From conversations with alumni, it is my understanding that seniors used to stay on campus and it was like a “senior week” celebration.

This year, seniors have to pack everything up and go home, or for students that live too far away find a hotel, and then come back to campus to graduate four days later.

These four days are a missed opportunity for the senior class’ last chance to come together and celebrate before graduation. Yes, there are senior events and there will be reunions in years to come. However, there will never be another time where this group of graduating seniors can simply enjoy spending time as a community without the stress of exams or work.

According to the Office of Residential Life and Education, the reason that seniors are not able to stay on campus is because there is no emergency staff available to keep residence halls open for seniors to stay.

I understand that times have changed and that staffing shortages continue to be a problem in many spheres, but I think it would be such a meaningful experience for the senior class to stay on campus for those few days. Let the seniors stay on campus for four extra days to experience the joy of community one last time as college students!