I was immediately shocked at how brief of the Wikipedia page is devoted to our fair New Paltz! And more disheartening still is that a good quarter of the page lists our various modes of transportation! New Paltz is home to one the oldest street in America, surely we have a little more history then that to tell.

There is a good amount of information given about the founding of New Paltz and historic Huguenot, but the story seems to fast forward quite suddenly after that. It jumps to modern demographics, politics, media appearances, etc. Although these are useful facts, I feel that the spirit and culture of New Paltz is terribly cut short. There is a short section on some of the cultural events that we host here in town, but there seems to be so much missing! How can this page not include everything that happened her in the 60’s for example, I mean we were almost the eternal home of Woodstock for heavens sake (although I’m sure it wouldn’t have been called Woodstock if it had taken place here). But that just goes to show and impact a seemingly small town like New Paltz can have on history. There needs to be more mention of the rich culture we have here. Some of New Paltz’s historical goings on may not have been the most upstanding or PC events but that is what makes New Paltz  unique. And it informs who we are a students here,

I did learn a few new things from the wikipedia page. Did you know New Paltz has a sister city,cause I didn’t; Its Niimi, Okayama, Japan. I also thought the section about New Paltz’s first Newspaper was interesting. But other then that, a lot of this was old news. 

As far as the Wikipedia page about the college, this was a little more juicy with history! I loves reading about all of the demonstrations and protests that took place on campus. There seems to have been some sort of political, student run action happening on this campus during every decade! New Paltz clearly was and still is full to the brim with free and independent thinkers who are not afraid to speak their minds. I also liked reading about all of the prominent people that have taught here or attended the school (minus Vinny from Jersey Shore of course). The page gets a little dull after that however, providing statistics and information on a few key buildings on campus. The Tripping fields don’t even get a mention!

P.S. I am ashamed of this…but I have never read our Alma Mater before this moment