2008 Woodie Awards
The Many Faces of SSU
From Country Club to Monastery and More
Jonah Raskin
Issue date: 3/11/08 Section: Opinion
I began to teach at Sonoma State University in the early 1980's, when long-haired students and wise-guy reporters at The Press Democrat, liked to call it "Granola U." I don't know if Granola was, in fact, the breakfast of choice for most students, but I would definitely describe the students in the classes I taught as "laid-back."
No doubt about it, the campus had a hippie feeling about it, and I can't say that I enjoyed that aspect. To be honest I've never met a hippie who didn't rub me the wrong way.
Or, to put it another way, scratch a hippie and you're likely to find a rigid, dogmatic, self-righteous citizen. That has often been my experience ever since the Sixties, when I first met hippies. Mind you, some of my best friends have been and still are hippies, and I've been known to wear my hair long, and my shirts Tie-Dyed, too.
These days, SSU seems to have taken on several new identities. The campus has its share of what some of my colleagues like to call "eco-babes," and there are eco-warriors, too. Around the edges, the place still has a hippie feeling.
When I arrive on campus, say at 9 a.m., it feels like a used-car parking lot. I often bicycle to work, and I go past all those parked cars in all those lots: Fords, Toyotas and BMW's lined up neatly between the spaces - though they aren't for sale, of course.
You can get a good idea of who attends a University by the make and model of the cars they drive. This place seems to be eclectic, a real mixed bag: with students from wealthy families and from families on the margin.
By mid-day, especially if it's sunny and warm, the campus takes on the persona of a country club. Nearly everyone seems to be having a good time; no one seems rushed. There's a leisurely feel about the campus. Some are off to play tennis, others to swim, or throw a Frisbee.
Then, at the end of the day, when students, faculty and everyone else who works here, leaves for home, SSU feels like a factory. It reminds me of pictures I used to see of workers pouring through the factory gates and out into the streets. At the end of day, everyone seems to be streaming off campus, and there's often a kind of quiet sense of satisfaction in the air. Another day over, and done with.
No doubt about it, the campus had a hippie feeling about it, and I can't say that I enjoyed that aspect. To be honest I've never met a hippie who didn't rub me the wrong way.
Or, to put it another way, scratch a hippie and you're likely to find a rigid, dogmatic, self-righteous citizen. That has often been my experience ever since the Sixties, when I first met hippies. Mind you, some of my best friends have been and still are hippies, and I've been known to wear my hair long, and my shirts Tie-Dyed, too.
These days, SSU seems to have taken on several new identities. The campus has its share of what some of my colleagues like to call "eco-babes," and there are eco-warriors, too. Around the edges, the place still has a hippie feeling.
When I arrive on campus, say at 9 a.m., it feels like a used-car parking lot. I often bicycle to work, and I go past all those parked cars in all those lots: Fords, Toyotas and BMW's lined up neatly between the spaces - though they aren't for sale, of course.
You can get a good idea of who attends a University by the make and model of the cars they drive. This place seems to be eclectic, a real mixed bag: with students from wealthy families and from families on the margin.
By mid-day, especially if it's sunny and warm, the campus takes on the persona of a country club. Nearly everyone seems to be having a good time; no one seems rushed. There's a leisurely feel about the campus. Some are off to play tennis, others to swim, or throw a Frisbee.
Then, at the end of the day, when students, faculty and everyone else who works here, leaves for home, SSU feels like a factory. It reminds me of pictures I used to see of workers pouring through the factory gates and out into the streets. At the end of day, everyone seems to be streaming off campus, and there's often a kind of quiet sense of satisfaction in the air. Another day over, and done with.
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