The fall semester is coming to a close, and with it closes yet another chapter in our slowly-but-surely aging university and community. As temperatures start to dip, the library opens its doors for 24 hours and some seniors prepare to walk off into the sunset, we at The Hurricane thought it’d be nice to look back upon the events that shaped our campus and community this semester.
The semester started out with our first, and only hurricane warning-and the classes that got canceled with it-in the form of Ernesto, who huffed and puffed and ended up missing Miami entirely. Fortunately, we didn’t have any more warnings.
This semester was also a good one for speakers. Malcom Gladwell, Howard Dean and Chief Justice John Roberts are only some of the speakers who graced the campus with their words, all drawing large crowds. Several other lecturers and panelists spoke to attentive students this semester, not the least of which was Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, the self-proclaimed “most electrifying man in sports entertainment”.
The arts and entertainment scenes were vibrant as well. Damian Marley and the All-American Rejects performed to cheering crowds on campus, Daft Punk went out with a bang at Bang! Music Festival downtown, while the Miami Book Fair rolled onto the scene for the more literary-minded. Most notably, the famous and controversial Bodies: The Exhibit opened in Sunset Place, right across from campus.
However, as much we had our ups, we had our downs as well. Our football team is left without its renowned swagger, a ranking, a head coach, and a senior defensive lineman. The future of our program hangs in the balance, and could come out completely different-a perfect metaphor being the renovations the Orange Bowl is about to undergo.
Death struck this community too often this semester, as Bryan Pata, John Warnecke, Erik Swanson and Lee Weisbrod are no longer with us. As the pain sets in, however, it is vitally important that we, as a community, look towards the future to overcome grief and make the most out of what’s left of our lives.
Then there were construction delays. As of print time, the students who are supposed to be living in Building 1 all semester will begin moving in there just shortly.
But construction delays have also affected non-residents, as the new nursing and communications buildings are still not done, which caused disruptions such as holding classes in the TV studios. We can only hope the University learns from this mess and has the foresight to predict future fiascos.
Overall, however, the school continues to move up in the rankings, and continues to expand, offering its students more choices, and more opportunities to maximize their learning experience here.
Good luck with finals, have a safe and fun break, and see you next semester.