Something’s Missing at CUC

There is something lacking at CUC. Can you feel it? It’s there; you know it. You know you can feel it–that empty hole that seems to place shadows all across this campus. When you go home for the summer and get asked by a friend or relative where you go to school you simply reply, “in Alberta,” or maybe you proudly state “Canadian University College”, while hoping that it’s overly generic name doesn’t get recognized. But you know where you go to school. Yeah, you know – that place with 400 students, the one on the hilltop, the one with no school pride. Yeah, that one.

Optimistically: CUC truly is a wonderful school. We have a very intelligent group of professors here – many of them hold a PhD, pretty impressive for a small school like this. The student to teacher ratio is also something to enjoy. It gives the student a very solid environment to learn compared to larger universities. There is a good pre-med program as well as an Outward Pursuits department that puts this place on the map. I know first hand that the Education Department and the English Department are both run well with excellent professors who really know their stuff. There really isn’t much to complain about when it comes down to the main reason we really are here: to get educated. We are getting a great education from top-notch teachers in a great learning environment. But…

…there’s still something missing, isn’t there? You know you can feel it.

We do get a great value for what we pay here, we really do. Compared to other Adventist Universities we are paying much less for, well, for not much less. For goodness sakes, we have our own bathrooms! In our own rooms! You won’t find that in many other dorms. I personally quite enjoy showering in the comfort of my own surrounding – it lets me sing whatever tune I feel like without somebody telling me to keep it down, and let’s face it, it’s would be a bit strange if a bar of soap fell down by your feet if it wasn’t yours.

The point is that we are getting a good education in a great place to live, especially with the rarely wonderful winter weather that we have being treated with this year. No complaints, right? Right…except…

…there’s still that shadow floating over this place, you know the one.

The SA has done a great job of organizing some key events. Campus Ministries has been quite involved in CUC life and the community that surrounds us making this place better for all. PLT has put on some solid events that have been enjoyable. Likewise, intramurals has been quite a blast so far. However, for me at least, the question arises: am I proud to be at this school? Do I have a deep sense of school pride?

If you were to wander around public universities in the United States during the Rose Bowl, the NCAA March Madness, the NCAA frozen four, or other sports tournaments and even the games leading up to those prestigious events, you would have a guaranteed knowledge of what school pride is and you would be well aware that we do not have that here at CUC. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anybody paint their faces to the colour of the “A” on the Aurora hockey jerseys. I’ve seen a moose wandering around at certain occasions. Why don’t we have an Aurora mascot yet (if it could be possible)? Maybe it’s because we simply don’t care…but why not?

The CUC men’s hockey team won their league championship last year. This is different than most years – it’s a real league! This is a league with other colleges playing against us instead of those random men’s pick-up teams lacing up and taking on our guys for no real purpose other than them wanting to get out of the house at night after a tough day at work. The hockey team is for real – they are playing very good in a very competitive league. This is rare for CUC sports, but why?

Did you ever notice that there aren’t any links for anything student-activity oriented on the CUC homepage? No athletic programs information, no special interest clubs, no message boards, no event photo gallery, no intramurals news, no sports scores…nothing. How are we supposed to follow the standings and statistics, more importantly how are Alumni supposed to follow standings and statistics? At most universities the alumni make up a good percentage of the support for sports teams and other school programs. Do they even know when they have a chance to get out and watch their Aurora play a game? The more people that show up the better it is for the environment at any sporting event. Having a good sporting environment, in turn, leads to wins being more exciting. Having exciting wins, lastly, leads to school pride. Sports creates school pride just as much or more than good academics. This isn’t necessarily right, but it is the way it is nonetheless. I don’t know if school pride gets generated very quickly with only 20 or so people watching the big game, but I think not. Lets get excited about sports! Lets get excited about CUC! We have, and have had, some amazing talent. We just need to put it on display.

We all enjoy the great music displayed by Egypt, Rony Desarme, Mark LaFlamme, and many others – but do we enjoy the athletic abilities we have at this school? Some current and recent athletes – Andrew Dyer (basketball), Kirk Dunshee (basketball), Egbert Cambell (basketball), Brian Gray (basketball), Brian Benoit (volleyball), Michael Augustine (basketball), David Auguste (volleyball), and many others – have never got their opportunity to shine in the spotlight that could have been. This spotlight would not have simply built those individuals up, but it would have also built up school pride. These are students who would have an excellent chance of cracking rosters at any Adventist school in the world, but they simply haven’t been given that chance here. Sure, they’ve been able to play in school events or the odd exhibition game, but they haven’t been given the opportunity to grow in a system that nurtures their ability and improves their play while competing on a high level. CUC has never committed to athletic growth and development. The school would rather fund an excessive five signposts for directions around campus than to hire a coach for athletics. The school would rather give thousands of dollars away to possible students than to freely allow players to wear the letters “CUC” across their chest in a sporting event. They would rather make the students who want to represent the school pay to advertise CUC than to offer scholarships to improve the talent, which in turn would improve recognition of this institute, which in turn would generate some sort of school spirit. You get the point…the school is trying to draw new people in with the aesthetics and the giveaways rather than attempting to secure school pride in those that already attend this fine institute.

Word of mouth.

Supposedly it’s one of the most effective business strategies today. If you have a unique product that can catch attention then it has a good chance of becoming an Internet phenomenon, which could inevitably earn official media recognition and ultimately sales. Surely students with great pride in this school would spread the news to their friends who would then consider this institute. Now, imagine student “x” has 10 friends whom he or she tells about CUC. Out of those 10 that student “x” tells and encourages, only 5 consider it. Out of those five who consider CUC, only one decides to attend. If 400 students did this – enrolment would be at 800 after one year. Now, of course that is unrealistic because the simple fact is that not every one of the 400 students at CUC will be spreading the great news of this great school like wildfire. It is impossible.

It is a shame.

The Lindgren Foundation, along with other supporters, donated thousands upon thousands of dollars two years ago for a beautiful hardwood gym that we all enjoy today. What has this hardwood gym been used for? Recreational badminton, Acronaires, gym class, recreational basketball, registration, Alumni Weekend, Fall Fest, and many other things that simply do not require a hardwood floor of such expensive taste. It is no knock on those events – those events are wonderful and are highly appreciated by many students and visitors to the school. However, as already stated, these events would never have justified the need for a hardwood floor of this quality. This court is a court that is meant for basketball and volleyball. The court actually improves the game for these sports – wouldn’t it be great if Mr. Lindgren was able to sit courtside and watch the CUC Aurora beat the Walla Walla Wolfpack in a game of basketball? It would take some athletic development at this school, but surely it could be done – and this would bring great pride to the college life at CUC.

The only way to have such a team is to start such a team. I’m speaking mostly on the basis of basketball, because I’m a basketball player myself, but in the same manner it would be great to have other sports developed – volleyball, soccer, and other sports would also bring great pride to this school.

It will take years to get the system to the point of success, but it has to start sometime, what better time than now? This school needs to get serious about coaching and developing our athletes to become the best that they can be. This school needs to look at attracting the athletes along with the academics. Many schools have sports scholarships that match up close to academic scholarships, and this could be a possibility. It is not my call, it is only my dream.
It is my dream that there may be a basketball program – with a couple hundred people cheering on our Aurora during home games.

It is my dream that the students here on the hilltop may be proud of their institute.

It is my dream that when somebody approaches me and asks me “where do you attend school?” that I may reply proudly, “Canadian University College,” hoping that they may recognize the name for the pride that comes with it.

The time for administration to try a new strategy for attracting students to CUC is now. Stop worrying about the students who aren’t here, that hasn’t worked for the last ten or so years. Try something new. It’s a novel idea, really it is. Start worrying about the students who are here! Generate some school spirit, generate some pride, and generate some unity. As the great Bob Marley once stated, “Let’s get together and feel alright!”

—–Originally published April 2006 in The Aurora Chronicles—–