Christopher
WMU is in a wonderful community with lots of arts, entertainment, and restaurants. The campus is like a small city within a city and its just about the right size with 24,000 students. The best thing about WMU is that there are over 230 majors to choose from, over 300 registered student organizations and a process to create your own group, and we really are a world-class public research institution.
We are currently working on a spirit initiatve, each week we celebrate Western Wednesdays and encourage students, faculty and staff to sport WMU gear.
The new WMU administration, John Dunn, who took office last July is extremely accessible. Very few students have yet to shake the man's hand and most have encountered him on multiple occasions. He launched a program called the Western Edge, which is intended to put students first and give them an academic edge over other universities in finding a major and graduating within four years.
Even over the past eight months, the culture of the campus have steadily improved and the pride has never been higher.
The biggest controversy was over the Sangren parking lot project. Student felt it was ugly and unecessary and preferred to have parking spots rather than picnic tables and benches. Luckily, its temporary until Sangren in rennovated.
Tristan
The best thing about WMU is the people. They're all so friendly and willing to help out. Incredible friendships are easy to come by. Also, the size of the school is perfect; it's neither too big nor too small. Everything on campus is within ten or fifteen minutes walking distance.
Western students are definitely filled with pride. While most students usually show their pride by wearing Bronco apparel like sweatshirts, t-shirts, and beanies, on game days, students step it up a notch. Whenever there is a sports event, students paint their bodies brown and gold, they slap temporary Bronco tattoos to their faces, and they’ll walk around as Western superheroes with a Western flag tied around their neck as though it were a cape.
When I'm hanging out on campus, I can usually be found in the dormitory lounges-- usually the Draper lounge. My friends and I get together and have movie marathons, or we'll play pool or ping pong.
However, if I'm not on campus, I can be found in Downtown Kalamazoo. There are several businesses and restaurants that offer discount prices for WMU students. Also, students don't have to pay bus fares which makes traveling easy and affordable.
Andrea
In my opinion, the best thing about WMU is the fact that it is a liberal school. Most of the students are easy going and get a long well with others. Fellow students generally don't look down upon one another based on their areas of studies or financial status.
The one thing that I would change about WMU is the number of people who are on campus handing bibles and other religious literature. Its not that they shouldn't be there, it is that they should respect fellow students who do not believe in the same things that they do. The students (or elders) who pass out the informational literature can be quite pushy from time-to-time.
WMU is just right in size. It is not too big or too small, which really shows in the classroom. Often times, you have a class of 30 or so students which really allows you to interact with your classmates and professor, to get the most out of the class. The only classes that consist of about 300 students are general education classes which are required by all students in order to graduate.
I have never had a negative reaction when I tell people that I attend WMU.
I spend most of my time on campus either in the arts & sciences buildings (Sangren, Sprau, Moore, Dunbar, and Brown [when it opens back up from construction]), but I also spend a large part of my time in Waldo Library and Bernhard Center, which is where the 24 hour computer lab is and the area where and the on-campus bookstore.
Kalamazoo is definitely a college town. Kalamazoo College (which is a private university) is also in town, so there are lots of bars and other activities to participate in. We have lots of cultural and arts festivals throughout the summer and a very large art community. Also, there is a area known in town by campus called the student ghetto, which is where most students who live off campus reside. In that area there are houses and apartments to rent in abundance, most within walking distance to campus.
From my experience, WMU's administration is adequate. The financial aid department is a little rough to deal with sometimes, because of all the issues they are always having with getting loans disbursed on time, other than that, everything is okay.
The last controversy I can recall on campus was when WMU's President Judith I. Bailey was fired, I believe it was the fall of 2006, maybe 2007.
I believe that there is a decent amount of school pride. Many students attend football games and wear WMU clothing around campus, it just depends on whether or not they show it.