OUR VIEW: City and campus officials have a vision for MSU to grow in retention and activity, and this will only work if students interact with the opportunities by engaging with the community through events and utilizing college-student targeted apartments.

To emphasize college prevalence in town, Mayor Stephen Santellana and Suzanne Shipley, university president, added campus banners throughout downtown to show the pride Wichita Falls has in Texas’ only public liberal arts university last spring, so instead of heading back to hometowns every weekend, students could explore one of the many antique shops that hold generations of treasures.

As opposed to watching another episode of Steven Universe, go see one of the community theater productions either at The Wichita Theatre or Backdoor Theatre. Community members of all ages are able to perform in the productions or are welcomed to sit in the audience wowed by the talent and excitement “Wichitans” have.

A community event is planned almost every weekend either to take on the Texoma’s Hellacious Obstacle Run or listen to Pixar music from local musicians, so there is always something to look forward to in Wichita Falls that is relatively inexpensive to attend. College students love food and anything with the word “free,” and many times these events offer just that, but students steer clear because they might seem “lame.”

Along with the engaging in activities on the weekend, new apartments are opening above The Highlander on Scott Street, right in the heart of downtown, which will allow students to live off campus in an area full of life while being less than 10 minutes away from campus.

Students complain about this sleepy town, but they are often too lazy to just look up events going on here. Instead of complaining about what Wichita Falls doesn’t have, students should look up and see what’s going on in the Falls.

See more of what’s going in in Wichita Falls here.