I'm shocked' shocked by my own capacity for sentimentality. In looking out toward what awaits those of us graduating in 12 days, I'm struck by the way I feel about what we're all leaving behind.

The era of community is a bygone era in most of this country. People don't worship together, don't join community organizations or even eat meals together. There are countless citizens all over this country who don't know their neighbors or care about the places they live.

Somehow, UD exists outside that. Those who speak of UD as a 'bubble' aren't wrong. The Marianists' sense of community, after more than 150 years, still dominates student life. Though the Ghetto may not be exactly what Father Chaminade had in mind, our neighborhood represents, in many ways, what community can still mean to people.

That isn't to say it's perfect, the evils of our society still slither their way into our world. It's dead wrong to look at student life on this campus without acknowledging the presence of racism, sexism and materialism; it just isn't possible to remove ourselves completely from what Thomas Merton termed the 'civilization of hyenas.'

It is not simply the Ghetto being unique among universities that makes this place so special, but the ideals behind the Ghetto that are slowly becoming unique to this entire country. It is that sense of community among people who barely know each other that I think I'll miss most.

And yet my sense of nostalgia is tempered. We seem to be part of a transitional phase at UD; things are changing at the university, but perhaps not for the better. Looking back at the '70's and '80's, the campus atmosphere was entirely different. The changes began after Homecoming 2000 and Lowesfest 2003. Both were nightmares for the university community as a whole. The administration was left with no choice but to react.

Since then however, the university's reaction has been, for lack of a better word, an overreaction. Anyone who's heard the stories surrounding this year's 'Lowesfest' knows the pathetic efforts to curb parties in the neighborhoods.

But even changes outside those concerns are affecting the community in ways I couldn't have imagined as a freshman.

I'm still not entirely on board with ArtStreet. Marianist Hall is the most anti-social building on this campus. 'Academic Excellence' is still a catchphrase that means almost nothing to me.

Of course I can't be sure where exactly this is going. All I can do is take my experience and guess. I have loved my time at this university; I have loved this university. New buildings and new developments have had nothing to do with why that is. It is the attitude, the atmosphere among students that is the past, the present and the future of this university. In parting, all I can do is offer a plea to both students and administrators to not change the things that make UD great. Those ideals behind this place have been here longer than any of us and, God willing, they'll be here long after we're gone.