Olivia Reilly ’23, Steph Wengler ’23, Leslie Quan ’22, Angelique Frazier ’20
If you have been on Instagram lately and are following the Saint Joseph’s University account, you might have come across their post of the new decked out athletics bus. The athletes of St. Joe’s are most definitely going to be “riding in style” in their new expensive ride.
St. Joe’s also dished out serious dollars to update it’s website in an attempt to lure in new students. And lest we not forget the repainted basketball court. We understand that the administration is on a mission to capture the attention of prospective students, but it definitely feels like they’re forgetting about their present students.
So as your average St. Joe’s freshmen, I have some questions and concerns. First, let me state that I am not an athlete so that bus has no use in my life. But seeing it flash onto my screen while I was scrolling through my Instagram page made me question some things. Why is a significant amount of tuition money going towards these blingy purchases when there are many more present problems?
I was thinking about this today as I waited in line to get an omelet in the Campion. I stood there as the bucket of “regular” liquid egg was low, and there were no more individual eggs in the other bucket. I guess I was being naive, but I believed the sign that was on top of the counter that read “fresh and free range eggs.” So as I watched a vacuum sealed bag of “regular” liquid egg get poured into the bucket I thought, “Am I really paying upwards of five grand to eat this food?” It is not like I have many other options either. As you scan around the Campion scene, you start to notice the lack of variety and the long lines. Campion almost always falls short of being satisfying and as someone who has to eat there three times a day, it gets frustrating.
We understand that the administration is on a mission to capture the attention of prospective students, but it definitely feels like they’re forgetting about their present students.
As I walked back into LaFarge after leaving the dining hall, I went to the laundry room to get my clothes. I was not surprised to find that my clothes were, once again, not dry and were in fact still soaking wet. My feeling of defeat was present as I made my way back up to my suite. I am no engineer but I am confident in the fact that the $10,000 that I spend to live in LaFarge can most definitely pay to fix that dryer and the four others that are broken. The lack of upkeep continues to amaze me as I walk into my bathroom to find mold growing on the door. But I was told to not worry because its “just classic bathroom mold.” Ten grand could definitely do more than just wipe the mold off. So as it repeatedly grows back, I sigh.
So the question is why is the administration being so stingy with our money when it comes to food and dorms? Freshmen are forced to purchase an unlimited meal plan, which is about $5,000, so why can they not buy more fresh brown eggs instead of bagged eggs? Does the cost of fixing a few washers and dryers make that big of a dent in St. Joe’s multi-million dollar endowment? Does mass amounts of mold not bring any concern? The price of our meal plan is within the price range of many other colleges, yet our food is distinctly of a much lower quality. The same goes for the dorms and their upkeep.
The massive amount of money that we spend, from our meal plan, to housing, to our tuition, does not match the quality we get. So as I scroll through Instagram I can only dream of the day when St. Joe’s posts a photo of new washers and dryers.
Article by Olivia Reilly ’23
