Getting such a large percentage of freshmen to participate in anything is an accomplishment in itself. But once the year begins, it is hard to believe that same 70 percent who initially participate actually are engaging further into the program through the opportunities provided on campus.

One of the program’s goals is to offer freshmen a common ground of discussion when they arrive on a campus as big as ours. But while chatting before class with a stranger, the odds are slim for summer homework to be the first topic of conversation. Some classes have been known to include the One Book, One Community selection in their curriculum, but this change from requirement to optional creates an artificial interest in the literature.

Other than requiring the reading for an actual grade in class, the opportunity to meet the author is a huge incentive. For students, getting to meet the author of a book they actually enjoyed is a rare opportunity, and most of the One Book, One Community authors have made a visit to MSU.

Above all, though, it seems an underlying factor in the program’s success is the committee’s choice of novels that touch on hot topics for that year.

Designed to represent MSU and East Lansing, a nine-member committee pours over a variety of books each year to find one they hope will spark an intellectually satisfying experience for all. Once chosen, the book becomes assigned reading for all incoming freshmen.

It would have been quite easy and predictable to fall back on the classic American novels, which most students dabbled in during high school. Thankfully, they’re not choosing the teen sensations of the year, such as “Twilight.”

With the 10 year anniversary of 9/11 consuming our minds, this year’s pick was Jonathan Safran Foer’s “Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close,” a novel about 9-year-old Oskar Schell and his family in the aftermath of 9/11. The 2010 selection “Zeitoun” told the story of one man’s struggle to survive during the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

These books and the themes within them are capable of bringing together students from all backgrounds and cultures because they are something to which most everyone can relate. Readers from a variety of backgrounds also can bring a new perspective to an oft-discussed issue.

The well-chosen correlation between these commonly experienced events and the selected book is no doubt a huge factor in the program’s success.

Engaging everyone in one single book would be an impossible feat, but a program which strives to get everyone in the community to set down the television remote and pick up a book should be applauded all the same.