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Don't exclude off-campus students


Off-campus students need to be actively included into the Multnomah family.

Imagine coming home for Thanksgiving Dinner. Steaming turkey, creamy potatoes, buttery corn, hot rolls and tasty cranberries lay before you. And every family member has a chair. Everybody, but you.

"Mom, Dad, where am I sitting?" you ask. Even Spot, the dog, has a bowl.

"Oh," they glibly reply, "We only set the table for those who actually live here."

That's how many off-campus students feel when they are left out of Chapel announcements, scheduled events and spontaneous campus activities. Left out. Forgotten. Excluded.

And yet, students live off campus for a many reasons: They can't afford to live in the dorms; their parents require them to live at home; or they take care of older relatives. Other students simply choose to live off campus.

Nonetheless, students who live off campus belong to the Multnomah family and should be treated as such. Stugo, the administration and students leading activities must consciously involve all students.

  • Appoint an off-campus student adviser who can advocate the needs and concerns of students living off campus to Stugo and the administration.

  • When missions conferences, lectureships and days of prayer require dorm sections meetings, provide a place for off-campus students to gather. Don't cop-out and say "join any meeting." That is equivalent to saying "join any home for Thanksgiving."

  • Build a food court into the new student center. Daily when students, staff and faculty sit elbow to elbow feasting on lunch in the Commons, students who live off campus eat alone in their cars. Off-campus students feel no more comfortable bringing their meals into the Commons than you feel bringing a bag lunch into a restaurant.

  • Remember to include off-campus students in chapel announcements. Phone call them for those spontaneous social events.

    Multnomah is family. By a little conscious planning, all students will know they have a seat at the table.






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