We, the undersigned, feel that it is our duty to address certain issues that threaten the current and future well-being of Benedict College. We love Benedict as much as you do and this is why we are deeply troubled to witness what we feel are negative developments in the college’s financial practices, treatment of student life and neglect of the academic arena. Because the Benedict College administration has been unresponsive to and even dismissive of concerns of students when we have expressed them behind closed doors, we have drafted this petition to publicly call attention to the problems  and precipitate much-needed change.       

First, we believe that the lack of fiscal discipline that has come to characterize the College’s decision-making process has harmed Benedict students as well as the broader Benedict community. The absence of any stated justification for this increase in tuition makes it particularly difficult to see how the increase makes the College better equipped to fulfill its institutional mission. The true strength of Benedict lies in recruiting world-class faculty and in the interactions between students and professors that result from a vigorous focus on undergraduate education.

Meanwhile, some classrooms, dormitories, and labs remain in decrepit condition and the important factor students are not receiving world class educations they are paying for. Such a state of affairs demonstrates Benedict’s neglect of its students, its apparent disregard for its standing in the world, and an ignorance of what truly contributes to a healthy and productive educational environment.

Instead of making a sincere and concerted attempt to resolve the issues mentioned above, the Benedict administration has spent its time policing student life. Administrators have crossed the line between maintaining a learning environment that is open to all and forcing their own personal views onto the entire campus. In doing so, they have undermined the value of civility, harmed the free exchange of ideas, and performed a disservice to those students who see their time in college as preparation for success in the real world.  The Greek system, which has historically provided students with a social arena relatively free from the control of administrators, has been subjected to increasingly strict administrative control as well. We believe that the administration should treat students like the legal adults they are and cease chipping away at free speech, free thought, and free association. These energies listed above President Swinton and Board of Trustees, are needed elsewhere.

We therefore envision a College that has stripped away unnecessary deans, administrators, and support offices. We envision a College where students are granted the liberty to lead their lives as they please and enjoy a true freedom to speak their minds. We envision a College that has recommitted itself to its roots in rigorous and stimulating undergraduate education. Achieving all of this will not be easy, as Benedict must engage in some painful soul-searching so that it can begin eliminating staff and administrative positions not central to the academic mission of the College. Doing so will require both time and moral courage, but the College will benefit from this examination of priorities by rediscovering its institutional spirit.

If it were to take an even braver step and pass the savings that would result from extraneous services and unnecessary support offices reductions to its students, Benedict would perform a great public service. A significant reduction in tuition, combined with an appropriate investment in student-oriented infrastructure and academic programming, would prove to the world that the College exists to serve the talented young men and women who journey to Benedict every fall. Peer institutions would likely follow suit in order to remain competitive. High school seniors and their families would no longer be forced to swallow an increasingly-unbearable pill in order to pursue a world-class education, and they would have Benedict to thank. The College, moreover, would benefit as well by having the luxury of selecting entering classes from a broader and more talented applicant pool.

We therefore urge the Board of Trustees, along with President Swinton and the rest of the Benedict administration, to depart from the realm of student life and instead expend every possible effort to eliminate unnecessary costs so that the school can refocus on the elements that would make Benedict a truly unique College: a passionate intellectual community mixed with an environment in which students acquire the experience necessary to thrive in the real world. We hope that by soliciting input from students and faculty about how and where these changes can be made, Benedict will take steps to best utilize its tremendous resources and establish itself as the fiscally-prudent maverick that higher education so desperately needs.

We request that all readers sign this petition and spread it to other members of the Benedict community. Moreover, we encourage all students, faculty members, and alumni to take matters into their own hands in order to fight for the future of the College. Phone calls, letters, and emails demanding discipline and the adoption of proper priorities. Inaction and silence, however, amounts to acceptance of the unacceptable. Benedict deserves better. It deserves, above all, our care.

Sincerely, 

Concerned Students