1990s
University of Idaho student, Carlos Lantz was walking home from a fun-filled evening at The Garden Lounge, stumbling around through the dim lighting of the upper UI campus. A wave of curiosity swept over him as he passed the infamous Ridenbaugh Hall. He spontaneously decided to stroll in and play whatever tune he had stuck in his head on one of the many pianos, as students often did at the time, enjoying a delightful end to his evening.
On the other end of campus, on another dimly lit evening, ASUI President, Sean Wilson, was leaving a senate meeting with his fellow cabinet members. As they were passing a cheering crowd on the Gamma Phi lawn, they turned to see the members of Delta Tau Delta streaking down the hill. One of the men sprinted over to the lawn and bear squeezed a woman, who subsequently went from cheering to screaming with pure terror in approximately half a second.
Back in 1994, Lantz and everyone else was listening to Pearl Jam and Nirvana, The Grateful Dead and he said he couldn’t pass a fraternity without hearing “Give it Away” by the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Wilson was listening to Metallica and The Scorpions, and often heard “Insane in the Membrane,” “Baby Got Back” and “Smells like Teen Spirit.”
“There was also, ‘When I Look into Your Eyes’ by Firehouse if you wanted something to kiss your girlfriend to,” Wilson said.
They were watching movies like “The Bodyguard” and “Basic Instinct,” and attended or listened to Vandal football games. They were barhopping from Mingles to The Garden, and seeing live bands every weekend, even in the Pitman Center.
“Music was basically the only entertainment,” Lantz said. “We were getting more and more touring bands, and everyone would go to them. It was liberating because you would get up to campus and no one was watching over you, and partying and just getting together all the time is what we did.”
The talk of the town was current events like Desert Storm and the Gulf War. Lantz remembered one of his professors joked about getting drafted. Computers were also becoming a part of the everyday experience, and UI was starting to revamp their first computer labs, which students had to schedule a time to use.
“It was the beginning of the internet,” Wilson said. “1992 was when I first learned to use email, Mozilla, and Netscape, and my favorite computer lab as an upperclassman was in the basement of the Pitman Center.”
The true campus experience entailed rushing from class to class, sweating your way up the hill to the Administration building, and the constant inability to find a decent parking spot. People would zoom past you on their bikes, and some would bump into you if you were walking too slow, but the people-watching never disappointed.
“Hanging out with friends between classes and watching the people talking was so interesting and it just seems fort of archaic now,” Lantz said.
Now
Kallyn Mai, the current ASUI President, had greatly anticipated her family visiting for homecoming weekend her freshman year of college. She was looking forward to combining her little piece of home with her new Vandal family. Mai gave her family the full homecoming experience, starting with a family luncheon in her sorority, then the homecoming parade and before the football game started, they set up a classic tailgate in their camper outside the Kibbie dome. Mai’s mom laid out heaps of chips and salsa and cheese and crackers for all to enjoy before they went in to cheer on the Vandal football team.
It was also current ASUI Academic Affairs Officer, Savannah Stroebel’s freshman year of college. Her first week of college, she was living in the LLC’s, and decided to attend the paint party on the Tower lawn. Greek students, Tower students, Wallace students and everyone alike were jumping and singing as a DJ blasted music and paint was splattered in every direction. As a first-generation college student, Stroebel wasn’t quite sure what to expect from college and was completely unaware of how many social opportunities are available. She felt positively overwhelmed by the paint party and anticipated the next incredible memory she would be making in her new college experience.
Of course, the talk of the town now is COVID-19, but as society is learning to adjust to it, new current events are entering the public sphere. Both Mai and Stroebel noted the recent 2021 Met Gala, all the wildfires and natural disasters, the recent events in Afghanistan, the Olympics, and many of the social justice movements that have occurred in the past few years, notably the Black Lives Matter movement.
“The BLM movement and revolution occurring last summer brought attention to our generation that our country has scars and wounds to heal from,” Mai said. “I think especially on our campus, minority students are fighting to be heard and to feel welcome. It’s no secret that Idaho isn’t the safest place for BIPOC identities. We all need to do better to create a safe environment and stand up to racism. Period.”
Right now, Mai, Stroebel, and the rest of campus are wrapped up in streaming services and podcasts. Mai and her roommates are watching “Nine Perfect Strangers” on Hulu, and copious amounts of Netflix’s reality TV series, “The Circle.” She is listening to “NPR Life Kit” and “CNN 5 Things.” Stroebel, along with her country artist favorites, noted Doja Cat, Mac Miller, Harry Styles, Ariana Grande, and Lil Nas X as defining artists of the times. Stroebel also noted Disney+ as the mainstreaming service in the public eye.
“I feel like Disney is catering towards the nostalgic side of its audiences, because they have the old classic movies on there, but they’re also doing a lot of remakes like Cruella and The Lion King,” Stroebel said.
The current campus experience isn’t complete without being a part of the Facebook meme page for the university, Uidaho Memes for Socially Distant Teens, according to Stroebel. It also isn’t complete without believing that Ridenbaugh is haunted, looking forward to homecoming, and dreading gnat season. Current students are also experiencing a transitional period as everyone is adapting to in-person classes again, after a year of virtual learning as a result of COVID-19.
“I know that was a big adjustment for me,” Mai said. “All of my classes last semester were online, and I now have an in-person class and I felt a little uncomfortable on the first day of school, I’m not going to lie.”
Timeless Lessons
The technology is vastly different, with smartphones instead of processors that would fill up 2 discs with one paper, as Lantz described. The social issues have shifted, and the campus layout has changed a bit. What universally remains the same, other than the dreaded hike up the hill to the Administration Building, is the impact college has on its students.
Lantz appreciated college providing a newfound ability to empathize with his fellow classmates and see others’ viewpoints.
“The biggest thing I’m grateful for is learning critical thinking and being able to look at things and no one was really telling you what was right or wrong,” he said.
Wilson enjoyed being able to tailor his college experience to his personality, goals and recommends this to every student.
“College is what you make of it,” he said. “Go make your experience your own. Be whoever you want to be because you can absolutely do that here. Most of my favorite memories came after I figured out what was important to me.”
Mai feels that her experience here at UI has helped her mature and grow in several ways, from having to make difficult decisions to realizing and achieving her goals.
“I’ve learned that I love working with people and I love being a leader and making things happen,” she said. “That’s who I am as a person, and our campus and leadership roles have facilitated that for me.”
Stroebel is grateful for the social experiences of college life, as they have given her a much broader view of what the world might look like and have helped in her process of becoming a teacher.
“I know these experiences will help me be a better teacher,” she said. “It has solidified the kind of teacher I want to be for students, and that’s changed my life.”