I’m not saying that non-traditional students aren’t every bit as valuable to the university – they keep the campus diverse. But, traditional and non-traditional students alike would benefit from more traditional students. Non-traditional students usually have too many family and work obligations and, thus, less free time than their younger counterparts.

Simply put, involved students are more likely to return to Northern Kentucky University next year. Consider this: from fall 2004 to 2005, 84 percent of new Greek members returned to NKU in 2006, versus a general retention rate of 67 percent for full-time students.

NKU is doing an admirable job diversifying its student body. Next year, campus housing will be set aside for student organizations, which will allow students to live with others from their organization.

Making campus life more attractive by accommodating housing needs to traditional students should increase enrollment for a college growing at an already bustling pace. Providing housing makes students more likely to join organizations earlier and become more involved in campus activities.

One community, in particular, that will benefit from new housing policies will be the Greek community, which usually includes some of the most involved students on any campus. One floor of the new housing will be dedicated solely to Greek organizations.

Some students’ transitions to college are made easier through Greek life, and some can benefit greatly from its structure.

But not everyone chooses to go Greek. Some students are concerned mainly with jobs and money, so taking advantage of job opportunities on campus is one way they can ease their financial burdens. Though a majority of commuter students may just go to class and leave, other students are still needed to file records and answer telephone calls, among other things.

More students doing that means those records and calls can get processed faster. Should the university continue to grow, campus job opportunities should grow accordingly. A larger campus work force would improve efficiency for everyone.

It’s too often people are apathetic about student organizations; however, their activity is vital to NKU’s appeal to prospective students. The new Bank of Kentucky Arena will need students to succeed. NKU has the numbers to pack the arena, but its student body currently lacks involvement.

Increased catering to traditional students would change that. The new Student Union can help make NKU more diverse and vibrant by reaching out to a larger number of students, but again, traditional student enrollment would need to increase.

Let’s face it: more students will equal more diversity, loyalty and respect for NKU; those principles are something any student should be able to agree upon.