American University is definitely a type of community, especially if we think back on what defines communities. AU's students are all united by a basic common purpose- to further their education here; we have many other ties as well: we cheer the same sports teams, American University is united under a single leadership which has new and exciting(?) plans for its development. You can tell American University is a community just be listening to conversations around campus.
Person A: I am from the upper part of campus
Person B: I am from the lower part
Person C: I like living in central AU
A and B: There is no central AU, you idiot
Person not from AU: goddamn it, this conversation is stupid
Of course, AU contains many communities within itself: it has its different schools, and we all live in different dorms, and our floor certainly has its own community apart from the rest of the residence hall. However, I do believe optimistically that AU's community is shaped by the people within it. I like to think that we all ended up here because that is where we were meant to end up, and that our strong motivations and beliefs or whatever else brought one to the university shapes the community as a whole, for the better.
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I agree with your belief taht AU is a community that's shared by the people in it, but I also agree with you in that it is an "optimistic" belief. In theory, its great to say AU is a community within itself. I certainly believe that once we leave there is the alumni community, but I'm still trying to figure out if I think AU is truly a community for us now.
ReplyDeleteAnd I definately like the response of the "Person Not From AU." :)