okay, so remember how my SU senior yearbook was totally shitty? well, the letter that i posted here i eventually sent (with a few minor revisions) to the yearbook staff, the alumni relations office, and the president of the university. and i included the names of fifteen other graduates from my class who agreed wholeheartedly with me about the yearbook. a few weeks after i sent the letter, i got a "we're awfully sorry" letter from the director of alumni affairs, and she cc'ed it to everybody on my list, so i figured that was the end of the situation. i was mostly writing anyway not to get anything for myself, since my yearbook's already done, but just to bring it to people's attention so future SU students wouldn't get screwed like we did.
but today, i get a package in the mail. it's from david kaszuba, the communications professor who is the advisor to the yearbook staff. it contains a letter from him, telling me how sorry he was for my disappointment, and how he's tried hard to work with this year's yearbook staff to improve the book. he also included a copy of a letter he sent to the university president about how the yearbook will be coming out soon and what he's done to improve the quality of the book. and he also included for me a copy of the 2002 yearbook.
the 2002 yearbook is everything my yearbook wasn't -- they included a spread on the theatre department, lots of focus on music, and a much expanded section on clubs that included listings for all the diversity awareness groups, the academic groups like psych club, and all the volunteer projects. There was a section on the avenue houses, including the new Liberty Alley apartments. There were no champagne-chugging photos from graduation, just very nice happy pictures of people receiving diplomas and hugging, and all that focus on drinking from my yearbook was nonexistent. All the parts that were Greek-centric in my yearbook were toned down and more representative of the campus community. Also, there was a memorial section for not only Nicky Dagenhart and Matt Black, but also several recent alumni who've passed away, and a memorial for 9/11. AND a faculty section, with recent group photos of faculty members. On the whole, it was a beautiful yearbook, exactly what we all wished our yearbook could've been. and it made me really, really happy that 1) enough fuss was made about my letter that he thought to send me the new yearbook, and 2) enough fuss was made about my letter that something actually got done about the situation. i am so phucking amazing. i feel like i made a difference.
but today, i get a package in the mail. it's from david kaszuba, the communications professor who is the advisor to the yearbook staff. it contains a letter from him, telling me how sorry he was for my disappointment, and how he's tried hard to work with this year's yearbook staff to improve the book. he also included a copy of a letter he sent to the university president about how the yearbook will be coming out soon and what he's done to improve the quality of the book. and he also included for me a copy of the 2002 yearbook.
the 2002 yearbook is everything my yearbook wasn't -- they included a spread on the theatre department, lots of focus on music, and a much expanded section on clubs that included listings for all the diversity awareness groups, the academic groups like psych club, and all the volunteer projects. There was a section on the avenue houses, including the new Liberty Alley apartments. There were no champagne-chugging photos from graduation, just very nice happy pictures of people receiving diplomas and hugging, and all that focus on drinking from my yearbook was nonexistent. All the parts that were Greek-centric in my yearbook were toned down and more representative of the campus community. Also, there was a memorial section for not only Nicky Dagenhart and Matt Black, but also several recent alumni who've passed away, and a memorial for 9/11. AND a faculty section, with recent group photos of faculty members. On the whole, it was a beautiful yearbook, exactly what we all wished our yearbook could've been. and it made me really, really happy that 1) enough fuss was made about my letter that he thought to send me the new yearbook, and 2) enough fuss was made about my letter that something actually got done about the situation. i am so phucking amazing. i feel like i made a difference.