In today's Civitas newsletter:

 

I'm going to college in a small town in Minnesota, 527 miles away. It's an eight-and-a-half-hour drive if you time it right. I chose St. Olaf for several reasons, one of which was proximity (or rather, the lack of.) I wanted to go far for college, because experience is the best teacher and St. Louis could only teach me so much herself. But I fully intend on returning to St. Louis after I graduate, and I fully intend to become a teacher in St. Louis after I graduate.

 

Simply put, St. Louis has the majority of what I want and need. There's a robust food scene from the multitudes of immigrants that founded and come to St. Louis; there are tons of free museums and attractions in the area; the theatre community in the area is strong, with multiple high-class theatres; there's a rich architectural history; the second largest botanical garden in the nation; and an urban park larger than Central Park or Lincoln Park.

 

This is not to suggest that St. Louis is a beacon of shining light amidst a void of darkness. St. Louis absolutely has distinct problems that are not easy to solve. There is a crime problem that needs to be addressed. If we want the Metrolink to succeed we need to decide how we'll fund that. St. Louis has distinct lines of segregation lingering. Those issues take time and money and effort to fix.

 

Things may be bad in St. Louis, but they can get better and they will never get better if we all jump ship and run away to safe politically progressive bubbles. I'm reminded of the song "Lady Liberty" by AJJ, where Sean Bonnette sings "When our government acts like this / I don't wanna live here anymore / Sure, I could be a pussy and move to Portland or New York / Or I could stay and change the place where I was born."

 

I plan to return to St. Louis, and I plan to stay in St. Louis.

 

First of all, keep in mind that UChicago runs on a quarter system. This means that instead of having two 15-week semesters like most schools, students have three ten-week quarters, with summer counting as the fourth. So if you think taking two rounds of midterms and finals per year is hard, imagine doing all of that three times per year. Sounds like a lot right? Well on the bright side, if you don't like a class or the instructor, you only have to endure ten weeks versus the traditional 15, and then you're outta there. Also, at UChicago we start school in the first week of October, which is super unusual, but we get out of school in the middle of June. The amount of time off is the same as traditional school schedules, but you might not be home at the same time as your high school friends. UChicago also has a shorter winter break than most schools, which is another consideration.

 

The housing situation at UChicago is also unique. If you're familiar with Harry Potter and the Hogwarts houses, you'll understand the housing situation at UChicago. Incoming first-years at the university (we're pretentious, so we don't call ourselves freshmen) are required to live on campus for a minimum of two years. There are seven residence halls, that make a combined total of 39 houses. Like Hogwarts, students live in a house which can range anywhere from 30 to 130 people. It's common (and optional) that students within a house eat at the dining hall together at their house table, compete in intramural sports such as quidditch, and explore Chicago's many diverse areas through going on house trips. Alumnus Bernie Sanders, was a member of the Chamberlain House, and this might have something to do with why the members of this house today are some of the loudest people on campus.

 

Let's move on to the political climate of UChicago. Currently, there are tons of ways to get involved on campus whether it be through the Institute of Politics, which was founded by David Axelrod, or one of the over 350 recognized student organizations (RSO's) on campus. Additionally, there is a coalition of multicultural student organizations called UC United, whose current platforms include Cultural Centers Now, Ethnic Studies Now, and #CareNotCops, which is actively trying to get the university to release the budget for the UChicago private police force. Most recently, Graduate Student United (GSU) has been hosting work stoppages in order to convince the university to improve work and study conditions on campus and to push administration to officially recognize our graduate student union. In the past, UChicago has been known as a pretty conservative place, but over time, we have gained a more liberal appearance in the media. What I noticed throughout my first year in the College is that the student body tends to be more liberal than the actual administration, aka the ones with the real power at UChicago. But if your favorite way to be involved in a school's offerings is through sports, UChicago probably isn't the place for you. The academic challenges keep most students from watching or participating in sports.

 

Speaking of academics...maybe you've heard that people claim UChicago is "The place where fun comes to die." The rigorous course load and the practice of only allowing a small percentage of A's can be daunting for the student body accustomed to easily getting a 4.0 in high school. However, this high academic expectation is what has earned UChicago the #3 spot on the U.S. News & World Report National University Rankings.

 

All of this being said, I will be returning to UChicago this fall, so If you have any questions about the place where fun comes to die, but so does apathy, feel free to reach out (via info@civitas-stl.com ), and I'd be happy to help.

 

Civitas interns are reading Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and  Redemption by Bryan Stevenson as one of their many responsibilities this summer. We would like to extend the opportunity to all Civitas students to join us for our final breakfast book discussion for the book

Just Mercy is a compelling, interesting read about Bryan Stevenson's experiences helping wrongly condemned prisoners, some of whom were on death row for heinous crimes they did not commit. An especially poignant story is that of Walter McMillian, a man with no criminal history, who is sentenced to die for a murder that he has no connection to whatsoever. Walter has a list of evidence proving he had nothing to do with the murder, but a motivated police force wanting closure to a high-profile case and a testimony by a criminal wanting to reduce his own sentence for an unrelated crime, are against him. The movie version of the book is in production starring Michael B. Jordan and Jamie Foxx, scheduled for release in January, 2020.

We already met to discuss chapters 1-8 of Just Mercy on Monday, July 1 AND Tuesday, July 2 from 9:00 am-11:00 am. However, if you were unable to make one of those discussion dates, we will meet again to discuss the book as a whole on Monday, August 5 and Tuesday, August 6 from 9:00 am-11:00 am. You can choose either date to attend.

If you would like to join us to discuss Just Mercy in August, please sign up here. We still have a couple of extra copies of the book if you'd like to stop by the office and borrow one.