`Sense of family' not felt in SMC financial aid office
Letter to the Editor
On May 15, 1999, I sat in the LeMans courtyard with 300 of my fellow classmates as we made the progression from Saint Mary's students Alumnae. As with many college graduations, there were several speeches given that day, and each of these people spoke of the sense of community at Saint Mary's that makes it such a special college to attend. They spoke of the commitment Saint Mary's has to each student. That day, as I sat among the women I had been privileged to know, I felt two things. First, I felt that none of this really needed to be said at commencement; after all, we had gone to Saint Mary's for four years and we already had a profound knowledge and respect for the special character and sense of community cultivated at Saint Mary's. Second, I entered the ranks of its alumnae with an unparalleled sense of pride.
But I am not writing about my own experience here, I am actually writing on behalf of another woman sitting there that day. She was not among the graduates. She did not receive a degree that day. She was in the audience. She was there as a friend. She was there as a member of the community. She was there listening to speech after speech about how Saint Mary's prides itself on its commitment to students, its sense of place, the support that an institution so small and undergraduate-focused can offer a student. She was there thinking about her own day to sit on the courtyard in a cap and gown. She was as proud as I was to be a Saint Mary's student. She believed what they said. She believed what they had been saying since the first letter arrived at her house from Saint Mary's five years ago. She believed it, she was proud of it. So was I. So was everyone. I was wrong.
So was she.
My friend is now about to be a second-semester senior. She carries a 3.7 GPA. She has been involved in many Saint Mary's organizations and clubs. She needs one more semester, 15 credit hours to have her day on the Le Mans courtyard. Unfortunately, she recently had a falling out with her parents, and they have refused to pay her final semester's tuition. I can't imagine what it is like to be in her position: to be so close to achieving a goal you have worked so hard for and to have it all yanked out from underneath you. When she found out her parents wouldn't pay she was upset, but she was calm. She believed that the family — the community that Saint Mary's had prided itself on — would be there to assist her. She didn't expect a free ride; she only expected support, assistance and a loan. Once again, she was wrong.
Since all of this happened, Saint Mary's has only responded with a dismisive attitude and a complete lack of concern. She suspected, as did I as an alum, that Saint Mary's would see that she has been a responsible and conscientious student, that she has only one semester to go, and they would find a way, any way, to help her get through this final semester. The fact that Saint Mary's could complacently stand by as a student who has given three years to them is forced to withdraw five months from graduation makes me ashamed. It makes me wish that I had not been so naive to believe them when they told us we were special, that they would help, that they cared.
This is my challenge to Saint Mary's — be what you claim to be. If you claim not to be a beaurocratic institution where students are pushed through and nobody gives a thought to whether you stay or go then, when the time comes, make it happen. The time is here. The time is now. Find a way to help this young woman become the alumna she desperately wants to be. She chose Saint Mary's; now it's time for you to chose her. Prove that the sense of community you claim to cultivate was not a piece of marketing strategy to manipulate students to attend your college. Make us all proud that we chose to become Saint Mary's students and alumnae. My friend and I will be here waiting, and if you still claim there is nothing you can do, I suppose you should send all your students home, board up the buildings and put an end to the game you have exacted on hundreds of unsuspecting young women.
I ask you now Saint Mary's, as one of your own, writing on behalf of one of your own, what will you do?
Kelly Curtis
SMC Class of 1999
November 30, 1999
All Viewpoint Stories for Thursday, December 2, 1999
