Swings and playgrounds tend to be associated with the carefree whimsy of childhood — but could they also have a place on a college campus? For Eric Aaberg, business administration sophomore and president of Comet Life, the answer is simple.
“We want to encourage students to stay on campus more,” Aaberg said. “An addition of mobile swing sets at the SU green or somewhere around the central part of campus would be great for students to get outside, de-stress and just hang out.”
Aaberg said the petition — posted on the Comet Life website — gained traction quickly, and is currently sitting at over 670 signatures.
“I simply shared it on my Twitter, and within a day it got 300 signatures,” Aaberg said. “The more signatures we get, definitely the faster administration will be like, ‘Okay, yeah, a lot of students want this.’”
Aaberg has been in contact with Ayoub Mohammed, Student Government president, about how best to begin the swing set project. While Mohammed said the project hasn’t been proposed to the SG Senate yet, after the project gains more interest, Student Government will liaison with administration to move things forward.
“If students really want to do this, then that’s great — they should go for it,” Mohammed said. “The extent of this so far is that I had a chat with Eric about this, and I told him I support any idea that students may have.”
Another question to answer, Aaberg said, is where the swing sets would be located. One solution would be mobile swing sets, which would have all the benefit of typical swing sets, but also allow maintenance to move them as necessary.
“That, I mean, is an option for Student Government and UTD to look into if they don’t want a permanent thing at SU Green, just because it might get in the way of events or things like that,” Aaberg said. “So, based off events, if it is mobile, UTD would be able to move it across campus.”
Aaberg said that swing sets with four to eight swings can cost as little as $800 to $1600 — which, considering the potential benefits to students, is a worthy investment.
“I think it would just be a good campus enhancement,” Aaberg said. “Spending just a dime for the university on something that would really bring joy for students, especially for the hundreds that have already signed the petition, would be fantastic.”
