The last four years at this university have provided students, alumni and administrators with a handful of memories they would like to forget. Between post-game riots, late night stabbings and last week's student boycott, UMass just can't seem to find enough mascara to cover up each black eye.
These public relations nightmares portray our university in a bad light, but even worse is the way our student body has seemingly come apart at the seems. Aside from the classic tofu-eating liberals versus George Bush-loving war mongers arguments, students are fighting now about how to spend leisure time.
The Humans vs. Zombies craze seemed to force students to choose sides, with those participating in the game being labeled as nerds and those condemning the game as closed-minded bullies.
With the holiday season right around the corner, this humble columnist was about to give up hope on UMass. An "us vs. them" mentality appeared to be permeating to all aspects of campus life, and things seemed dire.
But an event this weekend gave me hope.
"Unbroken Chain," a weekend symposium celebrating the music and influence of the Grateful Dead, came to campus and revived this columnist's hope for the University. Along with multimedia exhibits and lectures, the weekend featured two concerts in the Fine Arts Center.
On Saturday night, the Dark Star Orchestra performed, and this is when I had my epiphany. The band recreates historical concerts in Grateful Dead history, but perhaps the most interesting sight to see took place outside the show in between set breaks.
There you could find people from all walks of life - students, alumni and others - hanging out and talking about both the Grateful Dead and UMass. While an older gentleman with a tie-dyed shirt and a beard talked about seeing Jerry Garcia as a student at UMass in the 1980s, a current student explained what the scene is like now.
A sense of nostalgia was inescapable that night, as the music and atmosphere seemed to bring everyone to a special moment in time. Speaking of music, the performance was fantastic - a classic Grateful Dead set with sing-along favorites and intense jams.
Interestingly enough, however, the music only played a minor role in my realizations about UMass. While dancing during an awesome version of "Not Fade Away," I looked around and realized that this was the first university event that I had attended in which there was no major conflict.
That's right. No students with megaphones shouting at me. No police in riot gear shooting me with rubber bullets. No stabbings or baseball bat attacks. No bombs, either. Instead there were students, alumni and others respecting each other and having a good time.
In fact, I was blown away after making this realization. It is hard to find UMass students respecting one another or people unaffiliated with the University. I do not mean any disrespect here, but after all, this is the same student body that will walk across the street in front of a car without even acknowledging the person stopped at the crosswalk. In short, we don't care about a whole lot other than ourselves.
And yet, the best part about Saturday night was that it was a truly selfless event. UMass students there put the music first, and actually respected the older alumni and what they had to say. When an old timer spoke, we listened, and actually learned a thing or two.
There will undoubtedly be some agitators who read this column and immediately dismiss it as a bunch of washed-out hippies listening to bad music while "high on the wacky tobaccy." This brings us to the root of our problems here at UMass - labeling one another.
If for one night, alumni, students, old and young, could coexist together respectfully and without major violence, a first for UMass, then what else could happen? And it's not about hippies or liberals or any other bogus title.
Instead of labeling, we listened to one another and had truthful, real communication. No Facebook messaging, but actual human engagement.
The end result was a concert, some dancing and a fun night for all. Not every event has to end with a riot, hard to believe, but true.
Obviously, the Grateful Dead cannot save UMass, but for at least one night there was no major incident to make students look bad. And if it takes the Grateful Dead, the epitome of anti-establishment, to make our school look normal, then you really know we have ourselves one unique university.
Let's keep on trucking, without riots.
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