Professor Blalock successfully geared conversation among Rose Scholars during an event where we discussed our community. The underlying issue is the inequality in quality between the shoddy gothics and the bougie main house. How is it fair that students in gothics who are paying the same price as the students in the main house have to deal with a range of issues from not so necessary needs such as a lack of AC to ultimate necessities such as a lack toilet paper and shower curtains that do not cover the stalls appropriately? The Cafe discussion educated the students about the town’s laws regarding the gothics. Since the gothics are considered historical landmarks, Cornell is not allowed to demolish them. With no space and limited funds, the school is forced to continue to keep these dorms. The administrative people in charge of student dorms are not purposefully disregarding the needs of students in the gothics; rather, they have limited budgets that they must allocate accordingly. Pushing a student based request to gear more funds towards cleaning the gothics is the next step that we decided to take.  This initiative cannot change the budget, but it can persuade administration to change the budget allocation to ensure proper sanitary conditions for the students in gothics.

Something I found particularly intriguing about the Cafe was the use of an app to poll students anonymously. Due to Professor Blalock’s association with Flora Rose House, there was definitely some hesitation when he asked us what problems the students were facing in the dorms. The use of this technology disrupted all barriers and brought the truth to the forefront of the discussion.

Overall, it was a great Rose Cafe, and I look forward to attending more, especially the one where administration faculty who are in charge of the budget come to listen to the students concerns.