During a free moment of the day, have you ever plopped yourself down on a wooden bench on Case Quad or settled in a comfortable patch of grass outside Tinkham Veale University Center? If you haven’t, we highly recommend you do so when the weather takes a turn. For those who have, you have gained a new perspective of the Case Western Reserve University campus that is easily missed while we are all hurrying from place to place, focusing on one footstep to the next. From the sanctuary of a sturdy bench, you see yourself in those around you: the group of friends cackling, the anxious test taker scrambling to their exam, the exhausted individual plodding back to their dorm or the sociable one greeting their passing friends. These descriptions may not capture who you are as a whole. We are full of emotions and characteristics that affect the way we carry ourselves, even in those moments that lead us to that Communication Intensive course we are required to take, to social functions, to extracurricular activities or even to Fribley Commons. So, what sets CWRU students apart from others?
CWRU students break societal molds and are pioneers for change. Our alumni network is evidence of this. Double alumna Stephanie Tubbs Jones earned her Bachelor of Arts in social work from Flora Stone Mather College in 1971 and Juris Doctor from CWRU School of Law in 1974. She became the first Black woman elected to Congress in Ohio and passed the Child Abuse Prevention and Enforcement Act of 1999. As a student, she established the African-American Society. Alumnus Fred Gray of the CWRU School of Law dedicated seven decades to civil rights as an attorney, representing Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King Jr. in court. In 2022, Gray was bestowed the Presidential Medal of Freedom by former President Joe Biden. Alumni Joe and Anthony Russo were graduate students at CWRU in 1995 when they created their first feature film, “Pieces.” But their impact on the Marvel Universe, directing “Avengers: Infinity War,” “Avengers: Endgame,” “Captain America: Civil War” and “Captain America: The Winter Soldier,” gave us creative masterpieces to watch while we procrastinate our schoolwork. Knowing our historical context at an institution where reformation has always been at the forefront of those before us is important. We have big shoes to fill, and looking up to our predecessors can give us the strength to do so.
Despite our appreciation for our campus, it can be easy for CWRU students and administrators to get caught up in the numbers. In 2023, the campus broke into chaos as CWRU fell out of the top 50 university rankings, placing 53rd. This past month, TIME magazine released their inaugural ranking for “The World’s Top Universities of 2026.” CWRU was ranked No. 25 originally, then dropped to No. 27 on Feb. 2 due to a recalculation. Other ranking systems place CWRU drastically lower. For example, Times Higher Education puts CWRU at No. 145 on the list of top universities in the world. We, especially as a research institution, love to emphasize numbers over real experiences. We focus on quantitative realities and forget to hone in on the human aspect of education and community.
We are advocates for our future. Though that is admirable, as it benefits our individual success, we often turn our backs on opportunities for community engagement, and sometimes, it takes sitting on a sidewalk bench to see the community around us. Yet, the communities beyond our own deserve some care and attention too. There is privilege in being stressed about exams, upcoming assignments or academic commitments. Even so, especially in light of today’s political climate, people are stressed about more than that. While anxiety can be felt in many forms, the threat of losing family and neighbors due to the unlawful operations of ICE agents detaining people and forcing them into horrifying conditions is a very prominent one for many. We are in a privileged position to serve our local community by offering our support and activism. It is a misconception that the only way to show involvement is through monetary means or by modeling the activism we read about in historical textbooks. Community involvement can be as simple as volunteering at the local food pantry. As a school that prides itself on our change-making initiatives in research, all with aims to benefit medicine, technology and innovation, it shouldn’t be difficult to translate that spirit beyond our campus grounds.