Of Hobgoblins and Small Minds

It never ceases to amaze; it continually boggles the mind. Yet again, machismo and stupidity are the order of the day here at YU. We can only watch in utter wonderment as pointless, mean-spirited acts are carried out by small men with smaller minds.

Case in point: The Seforim Sale is an annual student-run event that provides a convenient service to the YU student body and the broader Jewish community. The hours of labor and the thankless efforts of the sale's staff are expended solely for the benefit of those who come to enrich their minds and nourish their souls. The students do not line their pockets with the sale's proceeds; whatever profits are accrued go to charity.

Yet at every step of the way, petty roadblocks and annoyances are strewn in the path of the students by those who rule this university by fiat. One wonders what malevolence dwells in the hearts of these twisted fools that they feel the need to impede constructive student endeavors in every which way possible. Students are the reason this institution exists, but in the parallel universe inhabited by these repression-bent nihilists, the students are here exclusively to obey administrative dictates.

Another case in point: Students began to utilize the grass in the Danciger Quadrangle for their own enjoyment after years of repression during which the grass stood barren. Disobeying what they were told, the students began to play football, transforming the center of the campus into a field of laughter and joy.

Enter Facilities Management. Stakes are placed around the grass and a rope fence is erected in the dead of winter. Facilities insists that the stakes were placed to guide the snow plows and assure that they do not harm the plot of boggy mud that students began to enjoy. It would be hilarious if it was not so sad. For all the years prior no stakes were required, yet once students began to play ball, the trolls of YU come out to quash student pleasure.

Why is student enjoyment anathema to administrators on this campus? Does the sight of a smiling face cause certain individuals to gnash their teeth in frustration at the mere fact that someone is having fun or doing something meaningful?