Can the Club Work?

When I taught high school, I was told in no uncertain terms to avoid the faculty lounge. “Smokers, no-accounts, and grousers all,” the principal told me. The rebel in me defied the advice for a few weeks but soon I found that the principal was more knowledgeable than paranoid. It was, indeed, a den of social poison, a veritable vortex of negativity.

At my first tenure-track institution, I was leery about hanging out in the faculty lunch room. However, it turned out to be a different experience entirely. Administrators and faculty members alike frequented the room, which was packed at the noon hour. Inexpensive soups and sandwiches were available, as was a bottomless coffee cup.

The conversations were fascinating. That first year I learned much about the institution’s history and characters from the long-timers, I learned much about the life of the town from more recent hires, and I made lasting friendships with colleagues whose academic buildings were remote from mine. The presence of administrators was, I think, key, because it minimized the complaining.

Renovations ended up displacing and ultimately diminishing the effectiveness of that lounge, much to the disadvantage of the institution’s overall sense of community. Committee meetings simply cannot create the same kinds of relationships as can be forged at mealtimes and coffee breaks.

What “works” about faculty lounges and clubs? Are we the poorer for their decline?