It is no secret that this year’s freshmen class enters the academic sphere during an especially controversial season in nationwide politics. As unrest swept across college campuses all over the world this past semester, there is an air of apprehension over what is going to happen once the school year starts again. As students have identified ways in which their universities are not serving them and are falling behind politically, they have begun to demand more and make their voices heard.
Students at the University of Connecticut have been no strangers to this new surge in energy towards campus activism, calling out their administration over institutional failures on multiple fronts. The Daily Campus Editorial Board urges the incoming freshmen class to not only educate themselves on the various issues that currently make up the campus’ political climate but to also participate and help push forward efforts to transform UConn into a more equitable community.
It is important for freshmen to inform themselves about what is happening around them. Among the issues most relevant to the direct future of the current freshmen class is the budget crisis facing their university. Last semester, 15% of budget cuts to all academic budgets were announced to take place starting this fall semester as a result of a 70 million dollar deficit after the expiration of past COVID-19 funding. Students should understand these changes to the budget and how they will impact their education and time at UConn. To be clear, this is a devastating blow to the quality of education and resources provided to UConn students. This will only make it harder to complete a normal degree, given the decreased course offerings, increased class sizes and disappearing graduate assistant support that professors claim will come about as a result.
These budgetary issues come about while the university continues to rapidly expand its campus with several construction projects like the new South Campus Residence Hall and Toscano Family Ice Forum, which continue to raise costs of attendance to the tune of 23.3% since 2019. Students should begin to understand where their tuition money is going and how new buildings and rising attendance will affect their experiences at UConn. There are budget cuts and rising tuition costs, but the university is continuing to spend money on new construction projects leading to valid questions about what the financial priorities of this university are and the consequences that they have for students.
Students should involve themselves in campus politics and ask important questions. This past year, students called out the university for failing in its promises to fully decarbonize by 2040 without a substantive plan currently in place. Student activists from groups such as Fossil Fuel Free UConn have called out the administration for its immense greenwashing, and we urge students to get involved in calling out the university for failing to uphold its promises and commitment to this goal.
This comes to the heart of the issue currently plaguing the UConn community: a lack of accountability and communication. Whether it be from faculty or students, this university needs to spend more time to hear what its people have to say. While it would like to claim to be a space for grievances to be heard through its numerous town halls, office hours and board of trustee meetings, the reality is that dialogue on prominent issues like budget cuts, sustainability, food insecurity, investments and especially the increasing militarization of UConn need to be addressed further. Students need to hold UConn accountable and speak out about decisions that affect our university and global community.
There is much more to each of these individual issues than can be covered in one article, and the Editorial Board has written in depth about each several times throughout the past few years. Ultimately, as much as we may write and attempt to expose the deep hypocrisy at the center of this university, the ability to make change is not going to be found between the lines of an editorial. It is only collective action from students and faculty alike that will change this university.
For the freshmen entering this school, these issues are your future. This community is your future. There is an incredible opportunity for students to impact the values and outcomes of the future of this university and decide what kind of place UConn should be, and how it should interact with the outside world. The Editorial Board will continue to care and make noise in the coming school year, and we urge all students, incoming freshmen and returning upperclassmen alike to take up a stance and join us in working to make this university a better place.