So CMU is boring? Hmmm.

I was a little dismayed to learn from the editorial in The Criterion’s last edition that at least some students find that to be true.

Boredom, like beauty, may very well be in the eye of the beholder.

If the editorial board at The Criterion is getting the same kind of feedback I’m getting from students and seeing on social media, there are quite a few students who disagree with the Crite’s position. But, after all, isn’t part of the intent of an editorial to generate discussion and encourage reader engagement. If that’s true, the editorial appears to have been a success.

Would I love to see the stands packed with students at every athletic event? You bet. I would like to see greater attendance at all the theater, music and dance performances as well as at the plethora of activities, concerts and games hosted by the student-run Programming Activities Council (PAC). Wouldn’t it be great if more of us attended all of the more than 700 events hosted each year by the more than 190 on-campus student clubs and organizations?

But we are all busy with school, with work, with families. Or maybe we’re busy hiking, biking, climbing rafting or camping. After all, access to all the amazing outdoor recreation opportunities is one reason many people choose to be here. By the way, did you know that CMU’s Outdoor program offer more than 100 free weekly outdoor activities, more than 80 weekend trips and two international trips every year?

So anyway, I can understand when some of you can’t make it to every campus event. Living life, doing our work and having fun keeps us pretty busy.

Can you be too busy and still be bored? 

The reality I have found is that our students are actively engaged in all sort of activities. Perhaps there is simply too much to do and too little time to do it all, the antithesis of boring.