It seems that every day the University
of Alaska Anchorage campus is becoming more traditional.
Homecoming has become a yearly event at UAA and every year
new traditions are forming.
This year’s events include a parade,
a most spirited dress contest and the tailgate party that
starts in the Campus Center and ends at the Sullivan Arena
with the Nye Frontier Hockey Classic.
In the past, UAA has been and still is considered
a nontraditional campus. More than half of UAA students
are over the age of 24, according to a student profile on
the UAA Web site. And the majority of UAA students live
off campus. Although, last year there was an 11.3 percent
increase in first-time freshmen from the 2001-2002 academic
year, according to a report from the chancellor.
The fact that our school is nontraditional
in many ways should not stop us from celebrating tradition.
Tradition has a place in every community.
“It [tradition] cannot be inherited,
and if you want it you must obtain it by great labor,”
poet T.S. Eliot once wrote.
What is really wonderful about our campus
is that most traditions are in their infancy and we have
the opportunity to form them. We can shape and mold UAA
into what we want it to be. It is a process of trial and
error. We can try new things and if they work, they stay
and if they don’t then we try something else next
year.
But we should not feel pressure to form tradition
just because the number of first-year students is on the
rise or because more student housing is available. Tradition
takes time and cannot be rushed. When it is rushed or pushed
into existence it ends up artificial and without feeling.
Tradition needs history to back it up.
We also have the ability to build on old
traditions. The Seawolf howl is one of the oldest and most
loved traditions at UAA. This year a howling contest will
take place after the parade at the Campus Center.
This week, celebrate old and new tradition
during Homecoming week. You can be a part of forming tradition
on the UAA campus. |
