I regret to inform all of you that a terrible, terrible crisis is upon the St. Lawrence campus and it is about time that we, as a student body, stand up against it.  What’s this crisis? It’s happening right before our eyes, and so many students are blind to the awful occurrences as they go about their daily lives. St. Lawrence is slowly moving its campus outside of Canton.  I know… I know this may seem insane, but the evidence is all too obvious. What else explains the mysterious vanishing of the most beautiful building on campus–the Whitman Annex? Within one summer, St. Lawrence removed our most glorious facility, and all that is in its place remains a pile of depressingly dry dirt.  

No longer are the days when Lee, Rebert or Whitman residents would gaze out their windows at the lovely plain white walls of SLU’s lovely trailer in the grass. No one knew exactly what that building was there for, but damn was it brilliant, and every student who laid their eyes on it always commented on its pure radiance in the sunlight. What happened to the rocks by the baseball field?  There were rocks, no, BOULDERS one might say. Mysteriously, these also left campus.

What happened to the track team? YES, a whole athletic program that once boasted close to a hundred student-athletes is now decimated in half.   Out of nowhere, award-winning runners are now quitting or never showing up to campus, never to be seen on a track again. What about the OC Thelmo budget? I heard rumors that may be slowly fading away. And now, from what I am noticing from many seniors in the job search process, I hate to admit, even the legendary alumni network no longer exists.  No jobs, no alums, no references, ALL GONE. Words can’t describe how many sad emojis I would like to type right now.

So, what explains these sudden disappearances? Yes, you and I both know.  As said before, SLU is slowly taking our campus and literally moving it to another location, bit by bit.  Maybe to Potsdam, maybe to Canada. I’ve heard whispers of Greenwich, Connecticut. Another lead on this was from a fraternity brother, but unfortunately, his illiteracy hindered my ability to read the note.  It may have said “abandoned parking lot in New Jersey.” While this information may not be entirely in our hands yet, believe me, we are upon a significant transition.

It is clear they are moving the most iconic structures of St. Lawrence first (like the Whitman Annex), so obviously Dean Eaton is next. SLU moving out of Canton means our most disgusting nightmares will come true — no Sergi’s, no BK lounge, no drunk A1 in the town we all love.  

SLU’s identity is founded in our North Country identity and we love our small community of Canton.  Students volunteer in schools, prisons, stores and foster the incredible relationship with local residents that we all have come to cherish.  However, SLU is slowly stripping this experience away from us and we must not stand on the sidelines observing.

SLU students—we must fight to keep St. Lawrence University where it belongs. No more iconic structures leaving, no more students’ teams vanishing.  Please join with me and rally against this horrid scheme. If you would like to support this cause, tweet #KEEPSLUINCANTON and let your voice be heard.  Do NOT stay silent.