Among the back-to-school shenanigans of subzero temperatures, warm reunions with friends and the start of spring classes, you may have missed out on Chancellor Kent Syverud’s Winter Message last week. His speech was a great chance to stay up to date on various initiatives put forth by the university, both good and bad.

Student Association President James Franco assisted Syverud in announcing the Euclid Shuttle, a transportation service conceptualized by SA and funded by Syverud’s Invest Syracuse initiative. Students will surely take advantage of the increased bus routes, making it easier to stay warm and travel more safely on these chilly winter nights.

But I have trouble getting excited for a measure that will save SU and SUNY-ESF students just a half-mile walk, especially when some Syracuse City School District students have to trek up to 1.5 miles to get to school and back. The student experience only goes so far when the bulk of the SU community lives in its own college bubble.

And that’s a major thread I’ve picked up on: student experience. The use of the phrase was most pronounced after Syverud discussed the implementation of a $3,300 tuition premium.

Syverud followed SU’s premium and supplementary budget cut proposal by focusing on increased inclusivity on campus. While diversity has been discussed as part of the Invest Syracuse initiative, it’s important to remember that a revamped student experience will literally come at a cost — entailing more accommodations for folks with disabilities and international students who pay full price, and new sexual assault regulations in the wake of the #MeToo movement.

Invest Syracuse sounds promising in theory, but what exactly will the new student experience look like, and who will be able to afford it? We talk about student experience and connect it to pleasant things like bus routes, gym renovations and a new promenade. But it’s important to remember that the one thing underlying the student experience — and this is true at universities across the country — is raising tuition, which fueling inaccessibility.

Raising tuition and offering more scholarships may help some prospective students, but it will make college vastly more expensive for the majority of students.

It’s encouraging to hear administrators talk about diversity, but we should think about what diversity really means. Institutions know how to use words and values to appease people, but carry through with what they were planning on doing anyway. We may be making school more enjoyable for some, but what about those left out?

Reworking the university’s budget and adopting new measures will do great things for SU’s financial stability and reputation, but let’s not forget to include those who are less advantaged when we talk about diversity.

Sam Norton is a senior advertising and psychology dual major. His column runs regularly. He can be reached at sanorton@syr.edu.

Published on January 22, 2018 at 10:52 pm