In the Catholic faith, which is supposedly the guiding doctrine of our school, it is said that when Jesus saw the temple being used as a marketplace for things that had nothing to do with the worship of God, He destroyed it.
Is our school the same? We deserve to know if the money is going towards things that don’t advance social justice, charity, and the mission statement of the school.
Is all our money going towards things such as educating our students well, providing quality food and housing, and paying its employees in a fair and equitable manner? Or is it going towards things that have nothing to do with the intent of education and support?
If seeing God in all things is one of our core tenets, should we not be sure that our school is helping us to do that? And not just helping the Board of Trustees? Jesus also said in Mark 10:25, “It is easier for a camel to walk through the eye of a needle than it is for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” Are you helping your students or lining your own pockets?
We deserve to see where our money is going. We deserve to know. The workers deserve a union because without them, we wouldn’t have food in the Orleans Room, Starbucks, Smoothie King, Bird N Brine, Wild Blue, or Jimmy Johns. Without them, the Biever bathrooms would never be cleaned, the trash in the buildings would never be taken out, our campus would fall apart, without our Sodexo workers, our custodial staff, and every other member of the campus who doesn’t get paid what they’re worth.
We’d be starving, in a place that never gets cleaned, and trash which never gets taken out. With lights and elevators that don’t work. Internet that’s shut off, no water, nothing. We would not have a campus.
President Cole said in an interview with the Maroon that as president of a small Catholic university in the South, he lacks the power that students claim he has over changing the endowment, over the war in Gaza, and over the student code of conduct and its decisions.
Well this is the request, something that is well within the pPresident’s ability, show us the money, tell us where it’s going, and can you justify every investment that’s made that advances charity, social justice, the pursuit of education, and all the other things that the school holds dear?
Hypocrisy, often, has no consequences, but honesty does. Students have consequences, workers have consequences. When we miss class, miss work, don’t check our email, don’t take out the trash, we have consequences. We all have responsibilities to each other. We take out the trash in our dorms for our roommates, and bring it to the trash room for the custodial staff. We submit our papers to our professors, they give us a grade, and they give us the tools to succeed on these papers. Professors, students, workers, and faculty are all responsible to each other. We all support each other through our actions because everything we do here keeps this school alive, keeps our GPAs rising, our paychecks coming in, and provides a place for us where we’re told we will be supported in a safe environment to the best of the school’s ability. Obviously, resources are limited and the world is expensive, but is the school doing everything they can? Is the president and the board of trustees responsible to us? Are the administrators responsible to us?
We’re losing students, we’ve been losing money, we’ve been losing the academic ability and drive of our professors and students.
The palpable apathy in the classroom and the hallways affects us all. You can pretend that we’re just activists as a trend, that we’re idealistic, but it hasn’t been working. The way you are doing things does not work. Be honest, be transparent, support your students, your professors, your faculty and staff before you support yourselves. Is that not being a leader? We need unions, we need an appeals board. We need more faculty and student representation in the administration, not just what we get from the Student Government Association. Meet with clubs, meet with the Maroon, meet with the summa cum laude, and the 2.5 GPA people and every one in between. We all have concerns, we all struggle, but we also keep this school alive. Without us, there would be no Board of Trustees and there would be no president.
Maybe we’re wrong. Maybe our budget is perfect, every investment, every choice made, is all equal, fair, balanced, in line with Catholic Social Teaching and Jesuit values, and represents the popular will of the students, faculty and staff. If we are, prove it. If we’re not, hypocrisy often goes unpunished.
“Nothing that is hidden will not be revealed” Luke 8:17.
