Status

I was an RA during the 1999-2000 academic year, the first year that there were changes to the return policy. That year the return rate dropped from 56% (over the 50% limit due to Bowlesmen appeals) to less than 7% (mostly Spring admits and transfers). We feared that the traditions would die off. The responsibility to transmit those traditions fell on our shoulders. We planned and worked diligently to promote comraderie and civil disobedience (within reason of course...putting massive holes in the walls of Bowles was still unacceptable).

I am often reminded by freshmen from that year that we did a great deal to keep the tradition alive and they thank me still for bearing that torch (I was the Dorque the first semester). It has since become more difficult since the closure of the dining hall and the strict freshmen rule. But nevertheless I believe that tradition does live on...because it is Bowles. It is the space that nutured our experiences (see Alexei Vranich's article in the California Monthly). 

The university claims that Bowles is out of control, but that only speaks to the importance of leadership and fellowship in Bowles Hall. Education through fellowship was the founding mission of Bowles as bequethed by Mary NcNear Bowles. If the university truly wishes to encourage the growth of the young men that arrive there, they must identify leaders and select staff that can work closely with the men rather than antogonize them.