Dan Rather public address a test for the respect of students

Within this next week, our university will undergo a test. It is not from the state, nor is it from any regulatory body. This test actually will not directly affect A&M-Commerce when it comes to funding, enrollment, class sizes or anything else that pertains to the goal of expansion. It is a test of our collective desire to take valuable opportunities to experience a piece of history. Dan Rather is the test.

Regardless of how Mr. Rather's career ended - controversially, for those of you who don't know, and I encourage you to look it up - there is no doubting his credentials. This man has seen more, done more and been a bigger part of this world than anyone on this campus can even imagine for themselves. Now, a wealth of knowledge has agreed to come and share what he knows with a group of young college students eager to get out into the real world.

If you haven't heard about Rather's appearance next week - April 17 at 7:30 p.m. in the Ferguson Social Sciences Auditorium and FREE for students who pick up a ticket at The Club - you're probably still on spring break. The Club, Rayburn Student Center, The Pride Shop and others have spent countless hours making banners, signs and an entire advertising campaign to try and convince students this is an event worth attending. They have done their part, in the best way they know how, and here is where the test begins.

It could be spectacular. Rather could walk out on stage to a standing ovation from a packed room of grateful attendees and make a very memorable speech about the state of our nation's economy and how it affects the many students sitting all over the room. But, what if it isn't? What if the room isn't full? What if the reception is muted, as if to say these people really do not understand how momentous an occasion this is? Judging from our student's lack of response in the past, this is a very possible outcome.

Anything less than a sold-out Ferguson Auditorium on the night of April 17 will be one of the biggest embarrassments ever faced by A&M-Commerce, a bigger flop than the 2011 football season, and it would surely leave President Jones, Vice President Hendrix, and many others very red-faced.

This is unfortunate since, as I said, the university has done its part to tell students this is going on. So, any failure to fill every seat in that auditorium will surely fall, mostly, on the shoulders of the students. This is not even a test of A&M-Commerce's ability to publicize; rather, it is a chance to see how much the university can actually convince its students that this is, in fact, an extremely important event.

So, I would ask my fellow students to do something many of you probably have not done yet this year, save those of you who attended the Trayvon Martin rally last week: care. Care about something outside of what to do in Commerce on Thursday night. Care about what you can gain out of listening to a man whose experience in this world far outweighs that of any other student's.

If we don't care enough about this speech, we will give our university a gigantic stain that could take many years to get rid of. You can bet if Rather gets a mild reception in front of a half-full house, then we will not see another person of similar stature come to this campus to share their knowledge with, what should be, eager students for quite some time. It's all in the hashtag: students will decide whether this event will be remembered as #RatherAmazing, or, quite simply, #RatherInsulting.