Having recently attended “Not One Drop: Why it’s not okay to drill, drill, drill”, an Evening at Egan Lecture featuring Dr. Riki Ott, we were impressed by the intelligence and message of the speaker – not so much from the low turnout of students.

Lecture series are important parts of college life, they allow students to explore new areas and ideas outside their major and best of all, at the University of Alaska Southeast, they’re free.

Every fall, the different schools put on the Evening at Egan speaking series. The lectures consist of a variety of known and unknown, local and national speakers on a variety of topics. This year’s series has everything ranging from several artists, scientists, activists and a discussion of French literature.

Also this year, several of the lectures have moved to their traditional location in the library in order to fit a larger crowd, which in the case of the Ray Troll and Riki Ott lectures was a wise move.

But at any given lecture, most of the seats are filled up with community members, not students. Maybe twenty students will attend a lecture, some because they are actually interested in the topic and others to get extra credit for classes, and they are lost in the swell of gray hair and middle-aged professionals.

Why is one of our University’s biggest assets going unattended by its student population?

There could be a variety of factors in the low turnout. First of all, the last classes on Friday end at around three o’clock in order for staff and faculty to have meetings at that time, so students head home long before the Evening at Egan starts.

For those students who do want to stay on campus, there’s a lack of available activities to do. The library, computer lab and cafeteria all shut down by five on Friday.

Students have no reason to stick around until the lecture and they are less likely to return to campus after returning home when the call of the weekend is upon them.

A second possible reason for the low student turnout is the fact that students have no say in the choice of speakers. The Evening at Egan series is announced even before school starts.

 Many of the speakers chosen most students know nothing about (Who is David Gallo or Kim Titus?) and unless they’re interested in the topic, they have no reason to attend the lecture. Allowing students to be part of the selection process would allow for speakers that students know and care about to be part of the series.

A third reason why the Evening at Egan lecture series  could be  more popular with the community then the student body is the amount of advertising off campus.

While there are full-page ads in the Juneau Empire, ads in the Capital City Weekly, fliers and radio-show appearances all the campus gets is 11x17 fliers with tiny writing.

Many students probably don’t know what the next lecture is going to be about, let alone whether they want to go or not.

Before the last lecture, Dr. Ott spoke at three classes and, while not bringing the students in droves, it convinced several students who hadn’t even heard about the event beforehand to attend that night.

Lecture series can be the icing on the cake for student’s college experiences, but the Evening at Egan series is lacking a crucial aspect – the students.

Reshaping UAS’ attitude and method of managing the Evening at Egan lecture series, they can truly become student-friendly events.