I recently visited the Marquette campus library for the first time in order to reference some engineering technical manuals. I was aware of Marquette's Department of Engineering, having received a degree from the University of Illinois Engineering Department earlier in my life.

Upon entering the library, however, I was confronted by locked gates barring my entrance. I explained to the gatekeepers that all I wanted to do was look at some reference material located inside upon the shelves.

The keeper of the gate explained to me that a fee would be required to gain entrance. If I wished, however, I could check these books out, but first I would need to go to the Milwaukee Public Library and obtain a pass from them, having a librarian there vouch for me.

At the reference desk of the Public Library we all had a good chuckle, I obtained my pass, and I then returned to the walled city that is Marquette. I handed my pass to the library gatekeeper, who then instructed me to wait out there. As I sat outside the gates while the books were being retrieved, I was filled with the sense of being somehow less than equal.

I lugged the books over to the student union and looked through the pages there, and then returned them to the library about an hour later. The whole atmosphere surrounding this incident was a bit medieval in its tone, and it left me with a simple question: Why would I ever wish to visit Marquette University again?

This viewpoint was published in The Marquette Tribune on October 25, 2005.