“While Guilford’s campus is among the most delightful in academia, care is taken not to pour money into making a ‘show’ of the grounds and buildings. There are no soaring Gothic structures, no ‘putting green’ lawns, no excessive architecture.”

This is how the Guilford College website claims that we follow the Quaker testimony of Simplicity.

But how else would you describe a 30-foot man-made “water feature” surrounded by specially chosen boulders and modeled after one of Harvard’s fountains, if not as “showy” and “excessive?”

Not to say that this fountain will be an eyesore — the proposed design is rather lovely and would make a wonderful addition to a local park or a High Point University lawn. However, the idea of installing something so ostentatious on a Quaker campus while still maintaining that we are rooted in Quaker values is hypocritical, at best.

It’s disheartening, too, that so much money comes into the college for very specific, “Please Put My Name on This New Pretty Thing” reasons, while we have legitimate needs for basic maintenance which we cannot afford.

Bryan Hall has a black mold problem, and it’s no secret either. So why don’t we have the money to fix it? Sure, the fountain funds are a gift from the Joseph M. Bryan Foundation and can’t be used for anything else, but why not give money to improve one of the existing, run-down and frankly hazardous namesakes instead of starting on something new?

Neglecting serious infrastructure problems in favor of flashy new installations suggests that we care about our external appearances more than the quality of the student experience, but that’s certainly not the Guilford we heard about when we toured campus for the first time.

If nothing else, please hear students’ perceptions. Set up a forum. Let those who oppose the construction voice their opinions, their concerns, their confusion. If we’re going to blatantly ignore the Quaker value of Simplicity, can we at least decide to do so via consensus?