Monmouth College - What college should NOT become?

Has Monmouth College failed to deliver on their promises? It seems that the faculty and administration are dumbfounded as to why Monmouth has such a poor retention rate and why they have consistently lowered standards in order to keep enrollment up. I have spoken to many students about this issue and a few members of the faculty as well. The consensus is clear that the college administrators, in their pursuance of obscure policies, have lost sight of what college was meant to be.

The College understands that people come to this institution to obtain a higher education; what some of the administration and faculty do not understand is that many students place a heavy premium on the potential social life on campus in making their choice. I know that I can get a comparable liberal-arts based education virtually anywhere. That being said, it is clear that it is not the academic program that is causing students to leave or not attend in the first place; rather, many students are dissatisfied with the number of social outlets on campus.

Students that are unhappy with the security situation, school policies, or interaction with the administration talk about it among themselves and occasionally with their professors. The fear is that the administration would not listen even if they were forthright in their convictions. It is not uncommon to be talking to a group of upperclassmen and hear complaints of how “this school used to be fun.” I have heard many students say that they no longer recommend this college to high school students that they know. Who wants to go to school where one cannot have fun? I know I certainly do not and almost regret coming to this school myself. There is no more powerful recruiting tool for any school than word of mouth.

I am not saying that the administration should let students run wild on campus, which would be neither productive nor safe. What I am saying is that the school must allow certain social activities to occur. In the past the school had been lenient about what occurs on this campus. I always thought this was true because the school understood that these activities were going to happen whether the students were on campus or not. Furthermore, I believed the administration understood that it was in the best interest of the students and the college to be able to conduct these activities on campus where it can be monitored and somewhat controlled in case of emergencies. Apparently the administration has lost sight of this. The recent crackdown by an increasingly aggressive security aided by school policies has forced students to go off–campus for their social outlets, which can be much more dangerous. I am sure the administration would be shocked to find out how many underage students have fake IDs or go to a bar on a regular basis. If you are under the age of 21, which I am until Friday, you virtually have nothing to do on the weekend because of this aggressive application of school policy. The town of Monmouth itself offers very little in terms of fun activities to college students that are underage. Student organizations, like ASAP, are trying to provide events that students need but are not succeeding. It may be that they do not have the budget to provide events that students attend in great numbers. That leaves the burden to be placed on the college to either provide or allow activities to occur on campus.

In summation: Monmouth College’s administration is doing a terrible job of delivering on its promises and also in providing a safe, experimental environment for its students to grow during the integral years of 18 to 22. I am not advocating that the school choose to break laws and promote drinking or other behaviors; I am advocating that the school rethink its policy in regards to its strict applications. It’s time to weigh costs and benefits, and realize that the school needs to re-embrace the administrative philosophy it used in the past. Without students, this school will cease to exist. Is that worth the price of “being in control?”

Brad Brooks ‘08