"We should appreciate the University more. It's very easy when we become buried and obsessed in our long term goals and daily schedules to lose sight of the exceptional quality of life that U.Va. offers," third-year College student Tommy Sweets wrote. Sweets' response was one of 66 comments that comprised the Last Word project last year.
The Last Word project, an online response page, offers all students an opportunity to provide anonymous praise, criticism or advice about any facet of the University, guaranteeing their comments will receive readership.
Alana Karen, Class of 1999 College graduate, began Last Word as an independent student project during the spring of her fourth year.
According to third-year College student Anne Magnan, one of three students involved in the program this year, Karen started the project under the premise of providing graduating students a chance to offer a final say about their college experience.
Responses can remain anonymous, or students can choose to attach their name.
Last year's responses were put together in a binder, with a copy available in the Office of the Dean of Students, as well as on the Web for public use.
This year Magnan, along with second-year College student Quincy Kolb and first-year College student Julie Teater took over the project, adding a new twist to the format. Last year's Last Word Web site provided a blank page with little direction for the responses, but this year the organizers hoped to structure comments by offering several questions to help guide respondents. By asking for positive and negative comments along with advice for what can be changed and what students see as hopeless causes, the Last Word organizers said they expect this year's responses will benefit the community in general.
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Though the definite structure of organizing the responses hasn't been decided, Magnan said she plans to work with Kolb and Teater to group the comments according to subject, and then direct specific comments to target organizations. For example, comments regarding the honor system will be collected and sent to the Honor Committee, either in the form of e-mail or a hard copy, or both.
"What these organizations do with the comments we send them, I really don't know," Magnan said. "But, I hope they take them to heart and think about them."
Other ideas being considered include publishing some of the comments in the new student publication Voice, which examines opinions and ideas about the University and its organizations, or keeping copies of the project on reserve at the libraries.
This year's project organizers took a different route by opening it to students from all classes. Primarily targeted to undergraduates, anyone from first years to graduate students can participate.
According to Magnan, this open format will encourage a variety of viewpoints, since a first year "sees things from a different perspective than a fourth year."
The new Web site, http://indorgs.virginia.edu/lastword/lastword.htm, has been up and running for less than one week, and already has received over 65 messages from students spanning all years of college experience. Kolb said she attributes the site's early success to the open invitation extended to all students.
Last Word "is an outlet for every student to voice their concerns from the smallest thing to the biggest issue," she said. "It will help students be proud of the little things and look at big things in new ways."
The diversity of responses is what Kolb said drew him to the project in the first place.
The comments were not from "main-stream politico students, [allowing readers to] see the world through eyes they've never seen through," she said.
As students from different schools, majors and classes join in the project, the responses center not only on the good, but also the bad and ugly. While such comments may at times become discouraging, Magnan emphasizes the need for variety.
"It's interesting to see what people think about this school," Magnan said. "It's not picture perfect, but it's good that it's not, because then this school wouldn't be real."
Third-year College student Tyler Sande, a friend of Magnan's, has had an opportunity to review some of this year's comments. Sande said reading various students' comments has encouraged him to formulate his own response.
"Even the disappointing responses prove that this is an outlet for students to complain, but to also share their last thoughts," Sande said. "It helps keep things in perspective as to why we're here in the first place."
Among the criticism and praise, advice applicable to almost every student emerges. Both Magnan and Kolb point to memorable responses from last year's project as something they would like to see continue this year.
One they said especially sticks out in many people's minds is a set of comments from Class of 1999 College graduate Lisa Kijewski. Tailoring her response to all students, Kijewski focused on classes and traditions here.
"If you don't LOVE a class on the first day, DROP IT ... If you have trouble determining if you're excited enough about a class to stay in it, indulge in the following exercise: calculate how much EACH MINUTE of instruction is costing you in tuition dollars, and ask yourself, 'is it worth it?' This works particularly well if you're an out-of-state student," Kijewski wrote.
In her submission Class of 1999 College graduate Sybil Garcia-Granados encouraged students to work towards increased desegregation in the future.
"I think that the only chance that U.Va. has at trying to counter the powerful segregation at this school is to send a message to students that college is about getting to learn from different kinds of people, from day one. This could be accomplished by eliminating the choice that incoming first years have about area dorm assignments. Let everyone have the chance to learn from a roommate or neighbor of a different race or culture," she wrote.
Like Kijewski and Garcia-Granados, Magnan hopes students will take their responses seriously, spending time to formulate a response that will benefit at least one person.
"We have received some really good comments that are critical in a constructive way," Magnan said. "Some comments are voiced in a way that won't put others on the defensive. So many students don't have a chance to voice their concerns, and this is our service to the students"
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