It’s structurally sound, beautifully made and magnificently placed dead center on Dixie State College’s campus.
The new Jeffrey R. Holland Centennial Commons building is amazing, I’ll give it that. It took my breath away the moment I walked through the front door. It exceeded every expectation I had of it—minus the abstract ugly carpet decorated with orange in the library. But as I explored the different floors, floor plans and views, I couldn’t help but think how much older the rest of our campus looked.
Undeniably, DSC is old. It has been 100 years since DSC was first established as a small school on Main Street, and while the Holland makes our road to university status look great, it makes the rest of DSC look pretty run-down.
As I walked from the Holland to the Red Rock Cafe, I looked around. The grass was minimal, the trees were few and far between, and I couldn’t help but notice that every single building looked about the same: brown and boring.
As I stepped inside the cafeteria, while illuminated with bright windows, it was small and semi circular with plain walls with no color, no real decoration, and white noise coming from the televisions. As I walked to the hallway leading to the student government room, it only got worse.
The floors were old in all parts of the building, and the carpeting was worn. The staircase looked as if it was made from rubber blocks that were molded together and walked on for years. The section below the staircase, where students sit to study or watch TV, looked garbled and cluttered. It wasn’t anything of any importance, nor did it make me feel important.
The rest of my day proceeded with the same stagnation. Each building only made me love the Holland more. I couldn’t help but wish all my classes were in the Holland and away from the old church DSC officials decided to turn into a math building and the old grocery store they decided to turn into our testing center.
Most of DSC looks like hand-me-downs left over and bought for the use of classrooms for the influx of new students. It’s been used and used again, and it looks that way.
While I believe the Holland does wonders for DSC’s pull to get more students and an even better reputation, the rest of DSC needs a lot of work and a lot of attention—not only to keep students on campus, but to keep students in a professional, working atmosphere.
