I am always inspired by the beautiful panoramic view of our campus as seen from the large window on the 9th floor of D.H. Hill Library. This library lookout has treated generations of N.C. State students to a god’s eye view of our campus. When my parents stood at this location, they saw a football stadium to their left and the newly-constructed Lee and Sullivan residence halls rising out of a plethora of trees. Now, 30 years later, I look over our campus and see Talley Student Center, housing the new GLBT Center, the newly renovated Turlington Hall housing the new Arts Village, and the same trees surrounding Lee and Sullivan residence halls.

While the trees have remained the same, a lot of other things have changed. I was reminded of this by a story my friend told me the other day. My friend overheard a local fireman bashing NCSU. Always quick to defend our school, my friend began to argue with the fireman. The banter between the two ended with the fireman, a UNC fan, exclaiming that “at least UNC didn’t have a center for the gays.”

My friend was quick to correct the fireman by informing him that UNC had an GLBT-friendly environment established nearly 10 years before our own. Despite what the original focus of their argument was about, it reminded me how much we, a traditionally right-wing university, have become more like our traditionally left-wing friends in Chapel Hill.

The opening of the GLBT Center last week is just one example of our gradual slide to liberality — in both our political ideology and educational values. According to Tara Ilsley, former president of the College Democrats and a junior in political science, the NCSU College Democrats chapter has been consistently growing in the last few years. We now have the Arts Village based out of Turlington, providing a haven for those who want to focus on the arts and how they relate to their college experience.

And let’s not forget that we long ago passed UNC in one aspect of the literary arts. N.C. State’s student media-run Literary & Arts Magazine, Windhover, has won a Pacemaker Award 11 of the last 15 years and the 2007 edition was recently awarded a Crown Award. These are two of the highest awards that college literary magazines can receive.

The question this all raises is whether NCSU is simply catching up to those around us or if we are moving ahead and changing our campus for the long term. Is the sudden movement toward the left a reflection of the generic college student’s problem with the war? And if so, will our campus migrate back to the right as soon as the times of hardship for the right come to a close?

Personally, I think we are finally catching up to those around us. Like Tara said when I spoke with her, it’s not just our campus moving more to the left, it’s all campuses. We are finally moving, as a whole, towards liberalism and a classical education that incorporates the arts. While we are only catching up right now, we are in a perfect position to move ahead and continue to incorporate the idea of liberal studies and liberal beliefs into our campus.

In 30 years, the next generation will stand on the 9th floor of D.H. Hill and look over the campus we left them. At that time Lee and Sullivan will be gone, but we can leave a legacy of growth and change that they will be proud to continue.

Do you think State is moving ahead, catching up, or going in the wrong direction? Let Joe know at [email protected]