Tuition costs clash with University's principles
G. Tijerina Jr.
South Bend, Indiana
Monday's column by Charles Rice, "High tuition reflects University's shift in emphasis," raises serious questions on whether Notre Dame is following the Catholic tradition on education and its role. It may be that Notre Dame is veering from that tradition to seek national and international prestige. Is this school getting so caught up in its own reputation that it has forgotten themes that were previously associated with a Catholic education?
The fact that our tuition has skyrocketed is easily seen when I look around campus or walk through the parking lots. There has been a huge socio-economic shift at Notre Dame that can be seen in the student body (and the cars they drive). I have been told that Notre Dame was once friendly to the blue-collar (Catholic) worker. Sweatshirts and blue jeans have been replaced with the trendiest clothes from who knows what department stores. Fashion, of course, is not bad in itself, but it helps demonstrate how enrollment caters (almost exclusively) to those who have money.
There is nothing wrong with money or having money. My primary concern is for the student who cannot come to the University. I myself had to leave in 1997 to pay money I owed the school. The debt I had incurred while in school was suffocating. My family was always very supportive, but they could only do so much. There are many high school students who see what can happen when they don't have money, and as a result they pass on an education from Notre Dame. Who can blame them? Why risk not graduating on time?
When we lose that kind of student, we lose an aspect of the school. We lose a different perspective, a different opinion and a different friend. Dorms used to have the kid who didn't chip in quite as much as they should have with the pizza, but nobody cared. Why didn't they care? Because the person who put in a little more was happy to help, and the person who didn't put in enough was proud to have such considerate friend. It is a case of the "have's" and the "have-not's" living together in a mutually beneficial relationship. What will come of us when there are only those left who "have"?
I encourage anyone who reads this to visit the Brigham Young University homepage. Their tuition (while being heavily helped by churches across the country) is only 1/3 of what it costs to come to our school. They value religion and education and foster an "everyone's welcome" attitude. Instead of being a leader for other Catholic universities, we have become the anomaly. Instead of looking like Holy Cross, Incarnate Word or Saint Mary's, we look like Columbia, Harvard and Yale. Is this what we truly want, and better yet — is this what Father Sorin intended?
Take a look at BYU and remember what we once were.
G. Tijerina Jr.
South Bend, Indiana
January 18, 2001
All Viewpoint Stories for Friday, January 19, 2001
