The Mobs Arrive: As the school year resumes, hundreds of students flood the campus

The arrival of the Purdue students in the fall brings with it many nuisances; the line for Den Pops stretches a block long, the entire campus is packed with traffic, and the streets and sidewalks are crowded with incoming freshmen and returning graduates and undergraduates. And with a population of roughly 30,000, the city of West Lafayette is completely swarmed by Purdue’s 40,000 students, who migrate back into the city all within a week or two. But is the return of the students really an inconvenience to the permanent residents of the city, or do the masses that inhabit the town for nine months out of the year liven up a small mid-western town?

Based on the hoards of anti-Purdue-student statuses that plagued Facebook newsfeeds the week of Boiler Gold Rush (the introductory program for Purdue freshmen), the hostility might seem widespread. But once the feeling of resentment for the college students that pack our beloved campus playground passes, it seems to be the consensus that without them, our town would be about as bustling as Lebanon. Whether we like it or not, we need Purdue to energize West Lafayette. If we didn’t have such a huge and prestigious campus in our backyard, not only would we be 40,000 people short, but we also would be missing thousands more faculty members that add to our population. Not to mention, our city would be about as diverse as Lebanon as well.

Senior Lauren Connell agrees with this sentiment, arguing that the close proximity of the campus “gives West Lafayette a fun atmosphere.” She then goes on to say, “When I go out to eat, there are always lots of people around. It gives West Lafayette a pulse.” Former West Side student, and Purdue freshman Gus Arndt agrees: “before I was a student, I was a little annoyed when the Purdue students came every fall. But now that I am one, I understand how boring our town would be without them.”

 So even though for one or two weeks out of the year the incoming Purdue students agitate us to the point of spamming Facebook with our frequent–and sometimes profane–cries of anger, they make up for their jaywalking, poor driving skills, and general inattention to the world around them by making our town a little less corn-fed, and a little more metropolitan, and that is worth one measly week of irritation.