According to our website, the Speaking Tradition at Washington and Lee University can be explained in two sentences: "By longstanding tradition, members of the W&L community regularly say "hello" to one another, whether passing on the Colonnade or meeting in the Commons. This simple courtesy, which affects and reflects the warmth and civility of life on campus, is also extended to visitors, who instantly feel a part of the community."
To commemorate this unique part of our campus life, every year W&L first-year students receive a free t-shirt. For my class year and last year's, they said "Don't be a phoney" on the back, below a stick figure looking intently at his cell phone. We all thought the shirts were corny at the time, but recently my friends and I have noticed that this message is increasingly important as more students arrive on campus and do not live out the Speaking Tradition.
W&L students are busy and overcommitted, and I get it. In between classes, we get only ten minutes of passing time -- and for days when classes are back to back, it can seem like those precious ten minutes are the only time we have to check our phones for new emails, text messages, missed calls, and Facebook and Instagram notifications. But, people used to live without doing this -- back when we were not all in immediate contact with each other, and when people did not expect instantaneous responses.
Of course, some of this pressure to be constantly in touch with everyone at all times is self-manifested. Many of us check our emails almost compulsively these days, yet how many emails do we get each day that don't actually get opened? How many emails really need a response that can't wait for a few hours, or until we are sitting at a computer again? Probably very few.
This cell phone addiction is not unique to Lexington, Va. -- it is something that millennials are dealing with all around the country. However, in small communities like ours, the cell phone addiction especially stands out. College students are afraid of being alone -- or at least looking like they might be alone -- so they turn to their cell phones as props. Professors have said that the Speaking Tradition used to make class transitions hard because everyone would say hi to everyone they passed, but now, most people walk between their classes while glued to their phones, as if they could not function without their device. Students will look up a few times while walking, but because everyone is so immersed in their own digital worlds, it comes as a surprise when someone says hi.
It may seem uncomfortable to smile at strangers and say hello, but I challenge all of us to do our best and give it a shot -- because our Speaking Tradition is worth revitalizing. Communities are made up of people, and acknowledging those people in person is important. It's not enough to like someone's new profile picture or status update -- because the digital world is not the real world. As much as we aimlessly scroll through social media and acknowledge the things we see, let's do the same in real life.
