By Editorial Board
In an effort to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of hall charities, Residence Life is pooling all the charity efforts of the residence halls into one organization, the Holy Cross Mission Center.
This seems, for the most part, like a good idea to us. Federal employees have the Combined Federal Campaign: relatively hassle-free and trustworthy charity.
Our worry is that the new focus on "education and collaboration," quoting Residence Life Assistant Director Jon Merchant, could take away some of the individuality and initiative from the hall events.
One could argue that having an umbrella organization to donate to, rather than researching and picking one from the many available charities, will save some work for hall councils.
Should working on a hall council be easy? Is raising money for a worthy cause ever easy?
We doubt anyone will argue that the hall charities were big earners. Granted, each hall has its flagship events: Shipstad with the Rock, Paper, Scissors Tournament, Mr. Corrado, Karting for Kenya or the monetary juggernaut that is the Villa Man Auction.
But one thing of greatest worth coming out of these, besides the money for charity, was the sincere dedication shown by those putting on the events to the chosen cause.
Hopefully halls will choose individual charities among the Holy Cross Mission Center menu to which they direct their money. Although the Center as a whole is a worthy charity, donating to a nebulous charity aggregator could undermine any educational goals.
It's easier and more meaningful to learn about the people and issues facing, say, a dorm at a school in Nicaragua, than "hunger" or "poverty."
That kind of singular focus from start to finish on one goal is educational in itself.
Time management, marshalling support, assembling supplies, publicity, intercommunication and so on are part of any project. The inherent pains in the neck that come with these enterprises is what turns them into a labor of love.
There are no shortcuts in leadership. It would be unfortunate, although admittedly unlikely, if the hall councils turned into a bunch of sales types.
Our fundamental question is if we are trying to fix a system that isn't really broken.
How much money can anyone expect to get out of a poor college students living between six packs of Rainier and the leftover pizza they bought with their bros?
Beyond that, saving charity is incentivized with fabulous prizes or corporal punishment, the effectiveness of the hall charities is only slightly a function of organization.
Yes, a well-run organization will be exponentially more productive than one run haphazardly.
The true efficacy of any organization, and this is true for the hall councils, lies solely in the dedication and determination of the individuals in it.
Simplifying/streamlining/etc. the hall charity system is probably a great idea, but those managing and taking part in them would be wise to remember there is more to service than the bottom line.
