We have all heard the nonsense about this being an ugly campus. I, for one, am tired of it. Technically, it’s not even a justifiable argument, because no one’s really qualified to say that bricks and train tracks aren’t aesthetically pleasing.

I appreciate their industrial charm.

But regardless of anyone’s opinion, the ugly rumors persist and must have a source. I have a feeling that the real reason that our campus has a bad reputation has little to do with the actual campus and more to do with the colossal lack of pride and respect with which we treat it.

If we want people to think our campus is beautiful, then we shouldn’t treat it like a dump.

The trash all over campus notwithstanding, anyone who wants to see just how filthy we make it need only walk under the tracks on Dan Allen Drive. As unpleasant as we all find it to sit down and find gum on a chair or under a desk, it seems strange that enough people as the project requires would consider leaving their sticky leftovers on the wall of an oft-frequented and uncomfortably small bridge a good idea. At best, the practice of leaving chewed gum on the bridge is a sad display of a very juvenile sort of comedy and, at worst, it is clear sign to everyone on campus, including visitors, that we are actually the ridiculous bunch of disgusting idiots many people believe us to be.

Sadly, even if one avoids the gum wall, there is nowhere on campus where one can be safe from the necessity of dodging the unnaturally large puddles of spit which litter every sidewalk and surround every bench. I understand some people must spit regularly due to the charming habit of chewing tobacco or, possibly, just because they are a new breed of super salivaters, and if they don’t, they will drown in their own essence. But really, how hard is it to incline your head slightly so you are not spitting on the sidewalk? Would people be willing to make that tiny effort for the school they claim to support?

Apparently not.

Worse, even if one is lucky enough to tiptoe around the spit and dodge the possibly hazardous gum wall, they are not safe — the filth stretches all over campus. It’s even in the dorms, which makes no sense to me. Why would you want to ruin the place you and your friends live? It’s become far too common for me to hear people saying things like, “Watch out for the elevator on the right, someone spilled beer everywhere and left that brown stuff on all the buttons again,” or, “No, take the back stairs, someone spit on the handles for the front ones.” This sort of adolescent nonsense simply shouldn’t be happening on a college campus. It seems strange to me that in a community with such obvious pride there would be such an appalling lack of respect for what we claim to love.

People talk about being fans of or being proud of this school and yet those same people don’t take even marginally good care of it. Can we really claim to be proud of something that we treat with such disdain? I think not. If loving and being proud of N.C. State means getting belligerent at a few sporting events, bad mouthing rival schools and wearing a lot of NCSU apparel then I would say we are doing quite well. But if it means actually showing your pride by respecting and taking care of that which you claim to love, then really, as a whole, we are failing miserably.

Essentially, there is nothing wrong with this campus that some scrubbing and maturity couldn’t take care of in a few weeks. What’s really wrong here is the attitude of this community.

I challenge people who claim to love or support NCSU to prove it by taking care of this campus. Let people whom you see disrespecting it know that what they are doing is as offensive to you as if they were in your home. And even if you don’t like this school and merely attend it because you aren’t good enough or wealthy enough to be where you want to be, I challenge you to take some pride in yourself and learn to respect things of which you are a part.

This campus is a reflection of all of us and, for my own part, I am ashamed.