The author, chairman of the Department of Sociology and Social Work at Casper College in Casper, Wyoming, examines how the proportion of students who participate in schooling as a real--as opposed to a virtual--undertaking has shrunk through the growth of online courses. This situation could be a tragedy or it could be acceptable. At the moment, we do not know. Little research is conducted on the meaning of the campus experience; we have been left to simply watch it disappear, without the ability to comprehend the consequence of its absence. This article examines how we came to where we stand today in terms of the valuation of spending time within the walls and on the grounds of our institutions. The author suggests shifting efforts in outcomes assessment toward the question of what it means to spend real time with classmates, and a teacher, in the name of education.