Is it just me, or is the Alexandria Campus of Northern Virginia Community College kind of a ghost town? Even with the expected bustle of students, a walk through campus is eerily quiet and empty.
I contrast this with my community college experience in a different state, where the college was not only alive with students, but was a true gathering spot for the community as well. It was a hub for arts and theater, an epicenter for community outreach and adult education, and a venue for a number of civic events and gatherings.
Schlesinger Hall, even with its several orchestral offerings, could stand to be a little more booked, especially with more free and low-cost events and home-grown community art programs. Where is its resident theater company, and where do the efforts and outputs of student life intersect with offerings for the community?
It would seem that there would be an onslaught of cultural events, open to the public, which are offered by the diverse student population of NOVA.
But I'm not singling out the community college only; I've discovered other cultural venues that seem, at first blush, to have a lot of vacant time on their hands. The amphitheater at Fort Ward comes to mind.
T.C. Williams shouldn't be the only community facility that showcases events like Holiday markets and festivals and goes to great length to invite the broader community to sports events and amateur performances and the like. There is an example here as high schools are typically great at that sort of thing. I went to the Homecoming game of a tiny high school in southern Virginia earlier this year where it seemed the entire county showed up to take part.
This kind of participation can't be achieved simply by NOVA and other neighborhood institutions to amp up their offerings, but the citizens of West End need to be more engaged as well. While many of us live in apartments and aren't laying roots to stay here forever, let's unite while we are enjoying time in the same community. Let's use our neighborhoods for more than just basic shopping, errands and a place to sleep.
As a new resident to Alexandria's West End, I'm ecstatic about the proximity to great Ethiopian restaurants, Middle Eastern markets, and other cultural offerings found in one of the most densely populated, internationally diverse corners of the entire DC metro region. This is a great neighborhood, with fantastic infrastructure and facilities for all kinds of cultural interactions. We should all be so lucky to take full advantage.