IUB Rocks

The winter of 2001 brought some heavy rain clouds over the heads of the first IUB batch of students. The joyful pioneering spirit which made us think we could move mountains in the first few weeks started fading away as solemn reality began to set. Unfinished apartments, unfinished curricula, and the unfinished D-Block and Servery of Krupp College, which were the constant reminders of the endless possibilities and opportunities for growth and involvement, instead made us ask what we had gotten ourselves into.

It was becoming more and more apparent that building a new university and a functional community was a tough venture that demanded commitment and perseverance. Very often it ended in frustration and tears instead. Having to walk through rain and freezing cold to catch breakfast coffee at what is now the Kindergarten and The OtherSide didn’t help either.

Yet, contribution didn’t stop. With all students living in Krupp College, and classes taking place in West and East Hall it became apparent that existing paths across campus did not suffice. For the popular 8:15 morning class everybody cut across the freshly sown baby-grass, rushing from breakfast, just along the side of South Hall in order to make it in time. With the damp Bremen weather & plenty of late breakfasts, this route quickly turned into a slippery brown mud path!

With common practice to continue building new pathways in places shaped by demand, students officially requested to have an official path build in its place. Without much discussion – this – was simply dismissed!

One night, before spams became commonplace and the regular online student hangout was the university forum, we started receiving mysterious emails containing a countdown to… something. Something Big. Something Good. Something for Everyone.

On the hour the countdown expired, almost the whole student body of IUB at that time did as the intermittent, countdown-related, messages asked, and met outside Krupp. As a symbol of change, student involvement in the university, and to show ourselves that we can actually make a difference here, we carried loads of stones one by one and build a sorely needed path through the mud from Krupp College to East Hall. To show that we, the students, are an active part of the university, despite earlier indifference to the idea and later scolding from the administration, we lined up the rocks so we could walk both dry and proud between our rooms and class. The rocks were a symbol of students building a strong community, showing initiative and not giving up when the going gets tough.

IUB rocks has since then reminded us that as students we have a voice that needs to be heard. It formed a basis for a strong and involved Undergraduate Student Government, which was in its infancy then, and has carried over to form a strong Alumni Association as well.

We have the power to shape the university, the campus, and build a strong community. We can make a difference. This is the true Pioneering Spirit.

This rock is a personal present of President Treusch to the Jacobs Alumni Association.