I was surprised to learn that one of my friends was involved in Bar Ilan’s student union. Who gets involved in the student union?! To put it mildly, participation in events hosted by the student union are not a popular pastime, so involvement in the 
student union, working for and with them is practically unheard of.
You might wonder why this is the unfortunate reality in Bar Ilan. Most people associate the word “college” with “college life”. How is it, that out of a student body of 22,000, most students are apathetic when it comes to student life on campus? During the yearly election, less than 25% of the student body goes to vote for next year’s student council. The answer to this is probably the same answer you’d get if you asked me why I waited six months to get a simple confirmation that would exempt me from 4 courses. No one wants to deal with the over-bureaucratized, and under-organized administration in the school including the student union.
As of now, we have yet to get wireless around campus. There is an inadequate number of places to buy food on campus. We have just one coffee chain on campus. The chain has (smartly) realized that it’s a monopoly and their prices are exorbitant. That is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the problems- I won’t bore you with the rest. I’d like to point out that to their credit they do try. They do offer activities for students  such as movie screenings for a shekel, and Friday volunteering, but these are mainly relevant to the 2,000 students who are living on campus in the dorms. True, Israelis are generally older when they begin college, so college life here is different than it is in the States. However, I think that it’s an important experience and it’s a shame that the only thing I’ll have to show for three years in uni is a diploma.
