Here at Seton Hill University (SHU), the fountain of knowledge runs deep, flowing through students and submerging them in wisdom. It’s a good thing for this metaphor, since our literal fountain is running no more.
Passersby of Reeves Memorial Library can bear witness to a blatant act of vandalism on SHU’s campus. Where the pretty four-tiered fountain, a gift from the class of 2004, once streamed proudly, now two abandoned tiers sit collecting rainwater. This will be the only water the fountain will encounter for an indefinite time.
By Valerie Masciarelli,
Editor-in-Chief
Here at Seton Hill University (SHU), the fountain of knowledge runs deep, flowing through students and submerging them in wisdom. It’s a good thing for this metaphor, since our literal fountain is running no more.
Passersby of Reeves Memorial Library can bear witness to a blatant act of vandalism on SHU’s campus. Where the pretty four-tiered fountain, a gift from the class of 2004, once streamed proudly, now two abandoned tiers sit collecting rainwater. This will be the only water the fountain will encounter for an indefinite time.
Sure, people may have laughed in previous years when practical jokers put soap in the fountain to make it bubble, but the new situation at hand is not a laughing matter.
�I don’tthink anyone enjoys a practical joke or prank more than I do, but theft and destruction is a different category…Now it’s mean-spirited,� said Bill Black, a SHU archivist.
This is not the first time part of the fountain was stolen. The top tier was taken last year, and was replaced when the original piece was not returned. A staff member had paid for the replacement out of her own pocket, hoping to see the fountain up and running once again.
This time, it is doubtful if any SHU staff or faculty members will be so generous. Why bother to make this campus look nice, if it will only be ruined again?
�You reach a point when it’s like, why bother?� said Black.
This knowledge is especially discomforting when one remembers that the fountain was not just a random campus decoration, but instead a gift that was supposed to represent a group of individuals who were once as much a part of SHU as current students are today.
�I don’tknow if students realize it, but if they vandalize property, they could be destroying class gifts that another class worked very hard to give,� said Carol Zola, administrative assistant to the president.
Zola said that she and other staff members view SHU as their �home away from home,� and whenever acts of vandalism happen to the campus, a sense of betrayal lingers — especially when it was done to a donated item or a class gift.
The clock donated by the class of 2006 was also a recent victim of destruction when its face was scratched. Repairs seemed minor, but the principle of it concerned Zola.
�Two-thirds of the people here now went to school with that class…Are you going to purchase your class gift with the assumption that the classes behind you are going to destroy it?� said Zola.
Zola’s question should be particularly haunting to the classes that still have a few more years to go at SHU.
Next time you�re walking by Reeves and notice the fountain, stop and turn around. Imagine missing or broken benches, picnic tables, statues, and all the other decorations that make SHU a homey and beautiful place.
Imagine your own class gift. Imagine presenting it to the SHU community as you prepare yourself to leave for whatever lies ahead. Imagine the future students who will walk by or utilize your gift.
Now turn back around. Is that how you want to be remembered?
Hopefully the fountain will be repaired sooner than later, but for now it sits quiet as a reminder of the disrespect that spawned its destruction.
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