Janie Boschma

Hi, folks. I would like to start out by being completely honest. It’s been rough for the last month or so. With the performance pressures of classes, family and money, I’m not sure it has been an easy time for anyone. Personally though, I’ve been going through one heck of an identity crisis.

As many of you may have read nearly a month ago, the office of Arts and Sciences in Schofield hall called the University Police and accused me of harassment. I have since retold the story to many of my fellow Blugolds, which resulted in a little criticism, a lot of congratulations and everything in between. I will soon be posting my interpretation of what happened that day on the Internet – and you are always free to ask the faculty of Arts and Sciences their professional opinion, in fact I encourage you to do so.

I’m deeply sorry for the miscommunication that happened over the course of a couple weeks, but it has taken me a month to realize I don’t want to talk about that, I want to talk about you and me.

When I started on my little crusade more than a year ago, I began with some simple principles in mind. The first principle I had was to always act on principle – a principle itself I felt was severely absent from this campus and from greater society. We are creatures of habit – Blugolds and humans alike – and it’s agonizing when downright silly decisions are made without any reason or reasoning.

We have brilliant minds all around us but we need a rebirth of simple common sense. We must nurture our principles, the very foundation of things important to us and they will nurture us in return. This is what I have believed for some time now.

But the list of what I believe does not end there. I believe we are beings that can conceive and implement great things, if only we were to believe in ourselves. I believe in the strength of community, many hands capitalizing for the greater good. I believe in knowing yourself, and putting yourself out there vulnerably and honestly, yet remaining kind. Pointing fingers is hardly inspirational for anyone to change; I believe you need to be the change you want to see in the world. Furthermore, I believe this university needs an official mascot – an identity to start taking ourselves seriously. This is not a school for kids who could not get into Madison, nor is it a school for kids just wishing to carry on as if it were still high school. Our claim to fame cannot be a hill, nor can it be a bridge or Water Street. We need something tangible – an identity. Something we can all believe in. That is what I believe.

Today in your classrooms you will hopefully find some literature, a little blue booklet called “The Big Picture.” A number of students and I spent the last two weeks printing and assembling the booklets, in order to deliver them to your classrooms early this morning. If you like the principles of the message, and you wish to get involved, there are some simple things you can do. Read and comprehend the information. Reach out to someone and simply say “Have you read this?” The student union, The Corps of Excellence that I am creating, is not a fleeting idea. It’s based on sound principles that are clearly defined in the booklet. There is a high level of “fed-up-edness” among students, and we’re taking action. Don’t confuse enthusiasm with invasiveness. We don’t wish to be mean, but we do wish to be intrusive. We intend to shake things up a bit, open the lines of communication and understanding, and hopefully remove the old “Well that’s just the way we have always done it” thing. We intend to challenge your way of thinking.

Stay on your toes, that’s what you signed up for when you enrolled here. And if you work here – well let’s just say I expected better.

All in all the university has been very good to me, but now is the time to come out of the woodwork. Get informed; start talking about what would make this university better. When we get together I’m sure we can do great things. Organizing The Corps will take some slow rumblings at first, but we intend to create a roar. Go to www.thecorpsofexcellence.org to hear what it is all about, contact [email protected] to get on the information e-mail list and to offer your support. Lastly, Facebook will be our initial means of communication so join the group, and be sure to join the discussion. We have many big plans for the future and we look forward to hearing from you soon.

Chip-E-Wa, Casey Driscoll, is the unofficial mascot of UW-Eau Claire and guest columnist for The Spectator.