So, I haven't posted in like ages. I have no internet whatsoever in my dorm room, plus my ethernet box is broken, so basically I haven't been online in what seems like forever. Now that I am camped out in the library sufficiently stuffed with delicious cheddar and broccoli soup and bruschetta pasta, I thought I should talk about why the dining hall is so important to the social life of a college student.
Aside from providing scrumptious meals to dine on, D-Hall allows a student to feast on the freedom of expression and speech. I know you're all thinking, "well, isn't that really anywhere in Skidmore? It's a liberal arts college filled with hippies, of course there's going to be freedom of expression everywhere." Now this is true, but if you think about it, there are limitations as to how free you really are in a classroom, with your friends, or running around Case Green on a beautiful spring day. But in the D-hall, the freedom menu is unlimited! This is all made possible by the almighty Napkin Board. For those of you who may walk around with blinders on your eyes, the napkin board is the board strategically placed right in front of the dinig hall entrance. If you walk in and turn left, there's really no way you can miss it.
But the Napkin Board serves a special purpose. It's where student can suggest, praise, or go on napkin-long rants about the food. There are no ramifications for anything posted on the board. If you wanted to go and say "Veggie burgers fucking suck," well, you could! No one could do anything to you for your use of foul language, or crude drawings you may include on your note. The Napkin Board is the epitome of the public sphere; a place where both the private (students/professors) and the State (Campus Safety/the Administration) can interact with one another without being able to enflict their power or influences onto the other. D-hall, and more importantly, the Napkin Board, allows the truest form of freedom of speech and expression to foster in the day to day lives of everyone on campus.
Without food, there would be no D-Hall, therefore no Napkin Board, and even more so no public sphere! There are enough rules and regulations to follow daily on campus, so imagine absolutely NO PLACE where you can express yourself freely in the truest form. We can say a big thank you to D-Hall for giving what every hippie wants most: true FREEDOM!
