Dear Alumni,

You’ve come back home after another year of conference calls, consultations and casting calls, and what do you see?

I can tell you what I see. I see new buildings and paved roads built with money we cannot seem to collect from donors. I see money spent on constructing new facilities, but no money spent on faculty endowments to fill those long hallways with bright minds. I see a digital newsroom still not functioning and a journalism department without a chairperson. I see budgets slashed and departments asking students to pay for the copies of material needed in class.

I see a football stadium, charred and ashamed, that has not seen packed stands more than three times since it was opened in 2000. I see a losing football coach getting a paycheck the size of which most professors will not see in their lifetime. And I see no group putting any effort into getting students motivated and involved in the spirit of this university.

I see students struggling with the increased financial burden of a poor economy and bigger tuition bill, while SMU makes no attempts at increasing (or even assuring current students) financial aid. Smart students and student leaders should not have to add to their list of worries because SMU suddenly cannot ensure financial aid needs will be met.

Frankly, I see the overwrought façade of a school that has lost sight of its students in the struggle to maintain a public image in one of the most critical and self-conscious cities in the United States. Forget the bright lights of museum openings and ribbon-cuttings; I know it makes pretty pictures. But what can you, as a former student of SMU, do to make this a university the current student body is going to want to come back to in 20 years?

Talk to the university; demand students not only have a voice on campus, but that they are the number one priority of the administration. If it’s the almighty dollar that speaks loudest to the ear of SMU, wield it as a sword and hold President Turner at ransom.

If the university cannot make students feel as though their time at SMU was well spent, who is going to foot the bill in 2032?

Regards,

The student voice of SMU