Caelin Bragg
Lantern Staff
A common complaint filed against Butler is that there is nothing to do on campus. While true that the college could do better on the number of events it hosts, the events that they do hold are so poorly communicated to the students that they might as well not exist either.
A few weeks ago, right here at Butler, and specifically the El Dorado campus, we had a Kansas Supreme Court justice visit with students, faculty and staff, and I would bet money on the fact that those reading this had no idea that they could meet Justice Carol Beier alongside District Judge Jan Satterfield.
And that’s not just a hunch. As someone who attended the event, there were, at most, two dozen people who showed up, and this was a Supreme Court justice! No one can convince me that the turnout was so low simply because no students were interested. This situation doesn’t come every day, as noted by the fact that this was the first visit to the city of El Dorado in the Court’s 158-year history.
I also have another reason for believing this was a communication problem. Even I, a student journalist who should have their ear to the ground and know, at least, many happenings on campus, and notably the reporter who was put on this story, was completely blindsided by the event only a few days before, and that was through a forwarded email from an instructor. If even someone in my position doesn’t know about something this major happening on campus, how are the majority of the student-body supposed to know?
There was no mention of this event to students either on Butler’s multiple social media platforms or through email, and there were no fliers around campus advertising the event; the Butler Lantern also received no notice to try and advertise it, which we get occasionally. The disappointing turnout was only guaranteed, if for no other reason than the visit might as well have been hidden from us.
And this is not a one-off issue. Another example of lacking communication was that we had an extra puppy visit the week following Mental Health Awareness Week that I only learned about as it was happening from a student telling me, “hey, there are puppies outside,” which might as well be a crime to not advertise.
This is a problem that’s easily solved. The last few weeks, it’s been impossible to miss Homecoming, with seemingly every other wall being plastered with details on candidates. Instead of fighting back against the idea that Butler has nothing for students to do by adding more events that no one will even know about, get students’ eyes on the ones that are already happening: That’s advertising 101.