Fencegate

I’m sure all of you have come across the monstrosity that has made its home in the middle of campus. The hulking, metal mess that stands between us, and Scovill, as well as the Perkins Music Center. It stands tall and impenetrable; it mocks us as we stare at it from a distance. Of course, there is another way around. One must make their way behind the library and stand in the looming shadow of Leighty-Tabor. What is this looming evil that has made it its duty to bar us from our classes? It is known by many names, the wall, the barrier, the pain in every Millikin student’s neck. But it’s true name is, the Fence.

Okay enough with all the fancy talk, let me just get one thing straight. The fence that spans across the middle of campus is a hassle. It is annoying and ugly and it makes a three minute walk a whopping…wait for it…five minutes. I, personally, only have one class on the other side of the fence at eight a.m. every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday and the fence has never caused me much trouble. If anything, the walk from my dorm seems shorter now that I have to cross in front of Leighty-Tabor. On the other hand, I understand that those extra two minutes that it takes to make your way around the library in order to get to your destination may be the two minutes between you and being late.

Honestly though; it is not that hard to get up/leave a few minutes earlier for class. What is really annoying my fellow students, and probably a lot of the professors and staff, is the fact that they had to block off the whole parking lot. Professors, students, and staff alike now have to park in the Kirkland Lot. The Kirkland Lot is often closed because of the shows and productions that go on for the students and the general public. So, members of the Millikin community have to find other places to park and take time out of their busy schedules to make sure that they get to their chosen destinations on time.

The clubs and groups that met in Pilling now have to meet in Kirkland because Pilling is partially blocked as well. I imagine that this causes a little bit of conflict, but according to my friend in Tudor voices, it is not much of a hassle.

I have heard people talking about the fence ever since it went up. I hear it in passing conversations, I see it on social media, some of my professors complain about it when we have a little bit of free time in class There’s always someone on Yik Yak complaining about how it makes their walk a little bit longer or how it blocks the parking lot. My favorite quote from a student is one that I found on Yik Yak, and it reads: “don’t you love how they just put up the fence and then they do nothing to the library? Like, if you’re going to inconvenience everyone on campus at least get started with it?” I couldn’t agree more, mystery student. The most annoying thing about that fence is that they seem to be doing absolutely nothing on the other side of it. Why block an entire parking lot if you are not going to use it? Seriously Millikin at least make it obvious that you’re trying to get work done. Set up a repeating track of people hammering and drilling if that’s what you have to do.

I really hope that by 2017 the library will be done and students will be able to see the reason why they had to put up with the fence for so long. Hopefully it’s a good reason.