Kevin Kan | Contributing Illustrator

As an institution, WashU is most meaningful because of the resources it provides to its students — whether it be the caliber of its faculty, the accessibility of its research, or the opportunities it creates for students to meet and engage with new people and experiences. Equally important, and often minimized, is the value that on-campus speakers bring to students and community members alike. 

While Graham Chapel’s stage frequently serves as a platform for influential speakers, these events are currently not an integral part of campus culture. We urge WashU to prioritize these events by making them more accessible to the student body, and we urge students to give these events a chance.

WashU’s Assembly Series lectures, which began in 1953, are free speaker events open to the WashU and greater St. Louis communities. At its inception, no classes were scheduled at 11 a.m. on Wednesdays so that the entire campus community could “assemble.” According to Barbara Rea, longtime director of the Assembly Series, the series was established to serve as a “bridge” to the St. Louis community and to to enrich the WashU curriculum.

Rea wrote that the tradition could not be sustained because of class scheduling, the accessibility of speakers’ thoughts on the iinternet, and a request from Student Union leadership due to eroding attendance.

Now, guest lectures occur on different days and hours from one week to the next. This scheduling often takes place during evening exams and classes or at the end of a long day when many students are looking to get home. More importantly, it defeats part of the original purpose of the Assembly Series, which is to form a sense of on-campus community where ideas can be peacefully exchanged.

Speaker events provide audience members the opportunity to interact with knowledgeable figures outside of class conversations and beyond their majors. This semester alone, students have heard from former congressman Adam Kinzinger, former senior advisor to the president Valerie Jarrett, and renowned journalist Michael Isikoff. These talks serve to enrich the student learning experience, build relationships, and facilitate dialogue. 

Many classes, particularly in the humanities, offer extra credit for or designate assignments about speaker events. Rather than this being up to the individual professor, each department should encourage the implementation of these class credit opportunities.

That being said, class credit is not enough of an incentive. Students who attend speaker events for class credit end up going to events that are related to the classes they take, oftentimes within their major. However, one of the biggest values of guest speakers is that they expose students to new perspectives, ideas, and subjects. WashU must create time in students’ schedules to make these speaker events a priority for everyone, regardless of their primary field of study.

The WashU Assembly Series lectures were created with the intention of enhancing students’ knowledge of the world beyond campus and creating a community culture that encourages dialogue. Without its consistency, we have lost this aspect of WashU and, as a result, we have lost a key part of the intellectual enrichment of our university. If WashU wants students to expand their perspectives, conduct interdisciplinary study, and engage in productive dialogue, they can start by making speaker events a priority.

The responsibility for this issue, however, also lies with us students. We should explore the various free opportunities offered to us and take the time to listen to the interesting people who come to WashU. While choosing which event to attend, we can move beyond our academic interests, push our boundaries, and expose ourselves to new ideas.

Staff editorials reflect the opinion of the majority of our editorial board members. The editorial board operates independently of our newsroom and includes members of the senior staff.

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