By Pat Tintle
Assistant Sports Editor
With recent, multi-million-dollar renovations throughout campus, one would think a student’s responsibility to respect their community living area would be a given.
Not the case with some Bonnies’ actions over the past few months.
The most recent incident of destructive, and frankly immature, behavior was seen in Cardinal Falconio Hall last weekend.
After months of architectural planning, administrative funding and dedication from construction workers, some Bonnies expressed their appreciation the only way they seem to be able to – by breaking into a wall.
True, this was only a small sample of students who performed the embarrassingly juvenile act, but other incidents seem to communicate a reoccurring theme of negligence towards the very property students inhabit, including the very same act of wall breaking in Falconio Hall just two years ago.
First hand, I have witnessed some lesser, but still equally frustrating, acts of disrespect towards the St. Bonaventure campus.
Whether it’s a student tearing down informative posters of campus news, or some student’s unexplainable instinct to remove sinks from their dormitory bathrooms, some kids just will not grow up.
When I was a freshman living in Falconio Hall before its renovation, the dorm was much less attractive than it is today. We had no flat-screened televisions, no convenient tables to socialize or study at and – who could forget the infamously awkward unisex bathroom in the laundry room – no separate men’s and women’s restrooms in the lobby– if I could even call that a lobby at the time.
With the new luxuries and conveniences available to freshmen, it’s equally surprising and irritating to see a group of people take something, which was made specifically for their well being, for granted, especially in a violent and costly manner.
If such acts continue, the university could begin to take certain measures to prevent a reoccurrence of last weekend. Those living in Falconio Hall can soon be charged for damage, including those students who had nothing to do with the smashed wall.
Looking even further down the line, the university may be hesitant to renovate or build new living complexes for students, knowing that their efforts would ultimately be disrespected.
Whatever the reasons for student’s destructive actions, whether it is a preconceived joke or an intoxicated form of expressing anger, it is an appalling thing to see money and effort go to waste on an ungrateful group of people.
Perhaps if those students who constantly break and destroy the Bonaventure community were the ones who had to clean up their twisted view of a joke, and not an uninvolved and innocent maintenance staff, the campus may just be a little cleaner.
Pat Tintle is the assistant sports editor of The Bona Venture. His email is tintleph11@bonaventure.edu
