Students, faculty, staff-admit it. You’ve all been wondering about, or become intrigued by, the bold fliers dressing the smoker’s quarters outside Wheatley Hall. By the time The Mass Media caught on to the mysterious and newsworthy subject, I grabbed a flier off one of the walls of the Campus Center and carried it around with me as a reminder of a future feature article. As I walked around the building with the “Keep Keith” flier, most students, faculty, and staff I bumped into curiously asked me “what is that?” as if I had something to do with it. I admitted, straightforwardly, that I had absolutely no idea.
Then I had the opportunity to sit down with Jobian Herron, founder and President of Jobian’s Soceity, for a cup of joe at Angora Café in Allston. Allow me to shed some light to your bewilderment.
“It’s not ‘THE Jobians Soceity,’ but ‘Jobian’s Society,’ because its possessive,” according to Jobian. “This club is a representation of myself as a student.”
Jobian’s Society meets weekly, every Wednesday from noon to 1 p.m. “We hang out, drink coffee, smoke cigarettes, and talk freely,” stated Jobian. The coffee and cigarettes are provided by Jobian as “my contribution to community service” in order to “give something back. The meetings are everything and nothing.”
Third, the club does have a larger purpose. Three features of Jobian’s intent include: entertaining, providing information, and educating. “It’s a little bit of everything. I don’t want the club to be taken too seriously,” remarked Jobian, but then added: “I also don’t want it to be taken too lightly either.”
“The fliers are the entertainment,” Jobian admitted. Though Jobian’s humor is often what UMB community members are confronted with first, “there are serious aspects too. We are lucky to have this campus.”
When asked about his concerns, Jobian spoke candidly. “People who are part of the larger community have trashed this place; an elevator of the new Campus Center was ‘tagged’ within the first week it was opened; student life funds are being mismanaged in some places. A lot of students don’t give a shit.”
“I want the students to rise up to a better standard. I want the students to know what they’re doing wrong,” stated Jobian frankly. Though Jobian’s words might come across as confrontational on the surface, those who listen to Jobian cannot miss his esteem for the university.
Like many other students, Jobian understands the over-committed lives UMB students face. “While at UMB, I’ve had two careers and gone to school full time,” a phenomenon that leaves it difficult for students to represent themselves fully.
Jobian hopes to mobilize the student community at UMB and is realistic about the challenges he faces. “Mobilization at a commuter campus is almost an oxymoron. How at a commuter school can you present yourself? How does one tap into the community? It’s like BU but without the dorms,” stated Jobian as he pointed to the Boston University buildings lining Commonwealth Avenue.
But for now, Jobian, through Jobian’s Society, is committed to providing students the space to talk openly and freely about what is on their minds. Students attending Jobian’s Society meetings have commented positively about the fact that club meetings are held outside so that they are visible instead of being cooped up on the third floor in the Student Life area.
So if you happen to walk by the vicinity of Wheatley hall between the hour of 12 and 1 p.m. on a Wednesday, don’t be weirded out if someone calls out to you offering you a cup of coffee and a cigarette wondering if you want to talk. Perhaps you should take up Jobian on his offer and listen to what members of the UMB community have to say.