I've been thinking lately about the notion of community.
For many journalists, community is one of those dismally ambiguous words that should be avoided at all costs, not because it's indefinable but because its definition is highly subjective. For lots of people ' journalists and non-journalists alike ' community is in the eye of the beholder.
In February, I went to a conference on community journalism at the University of Alabama. The conference attendees heard how the media should approach community journalism and what exactly it is in the first place. Definitions were tossed around and ideas were exchanged, but what was most surprising was the consistent focus on the people aspect of community journalism ' as opposed to my expected emphasis on the journalistic side of things. No matter how community is defined, people are the common denominator.
To many students, Athens is a bubble where, for four years (at least), we can delay our entrance into the real world and have a great time doing so. For many non-student Athens residents, however, Athens is home. Despite my soapbox sessions that try each week to get students to see this place as home ' and thus share in the responsibility of being good citizens ' students and non-students define this community very differently.
According to trusty old (Merriam-) Webster, there are numerous definitions of community.
First, Webster's says that community is a unified body of individuals. However, finding anyone in Athens to agree that the residents of this town are unified is like expecting to see a Bengals fan in Lucky's Bar on a Sunday afternoon.
Second, our good friend Webster claims that community is people with common interests living in a particular area. While it's obvious that the university and town exist in the same geographic region, Athens doesn't meet the first part of that definition. Local and university officials like to think that they know the common interests of the people they serve, but their generalizations can be far from the truth.
Take, for example, OU President Roderick McDavis' recent push to obliterate the drinking problem on this campus through Day of Dialogue and other ingenious ideas that will ultimately never work. Whose interests do his initiatives serve? Certainly not students ' and not even students who don't drink. The community-wide Day of Dialogue was held Tuesday, Feb. 21 from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Contrary to popular administrative belief, students at this university actually do go to class. I'd be willing to bet that lots of students had class on that Tuesday afternoon. It doesn't seem like the current administration really cares about having an average student's input into this drinking problem
but somehow it's the students' job to shape up.
Webster also says that community is an interacting population of various kinds of individuals (as species) in a common location. Again the location aspect applies to our conglomerate of people here, but the interaction between students and non-students is limited, and often a result of the nature of a university town. Rarely do non-students and students interact outside of their town-gown roles.
The reason none of these definitions fit Athens is because there are an abundance of groups with contrasting interests and with opinions that are anything but similar. Some might argue that the fragmented and pocketed nature of Athens makes this town less of a community. However, the plethora of groups, with their own interests and agendas, is absolutely one of this town's greatest strengths.
Although the university and Athens have far to go to increase the racial diversity here, our Appalachian valley town is teeming with a wide array of diverse groups that could potentially enrich all of our experiences ' if only we'd stop trying to define the common interests that bureaucrats here think will solve the city's problems.
No, Athens is not a bustling metropolis, but it is a community struggling to mesh many very different types of people with diverse interests. The diversity here allows for much horizon-broadening, paradigm-shifting and spontaneous-adventure-having.
No matter where you fit in this community ' or how you define it ' take advantage of the uniqueness of Athens. Do something different with different people this week. Get out of your self-imposed box. Who knows, you may like what you find on the other side of the fence. 17
Archives
Emily Vance
