I would like to give a personal shout out and kudos to allisonhartman for her amazing editorial on campus manners in the April 7 Echo. Although there are no passages that just bring a tear to my eye, the piece as a whole just made me say “Yes! Finally somebody is appalled at the new movement of disregard for other human beings!”

I call this disrespect “a movement” because it is a divergence from the Arkansas state of mind. As one of my professors said, “We just move slower round here ’cause it’s so dang hot!” She elaborated by saying moving slower meant saying “Hey!” to every face you recognize, saying thousands of “My bad’s” and the other things pointed out in Hartman’s editorial.

As an incoming freshman, my mother, a UCA alumna, told me, “Stop looking at the ground, and start saying ‘Hello’ to everybody you see.” Her advice helped me exude confidence and forced me to appreciate the community of UCA – something so special and important that it is the deciding factor in why I return here. My friends and I might complain endlessly about the construction, mismanaged funds, professors and stuff like that, but we keep coming back!

The reason? UCA has the vibe of the common man’s school, where good ‘ol boys and southern belles came to learn the many beautiful ways of the world, while retaining our deeply ingrained southern nosiness (or “intellectual curiosity”) and courtesy.

 I know this year I’ve not held open a door a time or two or have forgotten to say “Hey!” to somebody, so I’m going to return to make a special effort to perfect those ways because it is a way of life, a “state of mind” that is inherently Arkansan and a part of my (our) heritage.