Ever since President Roth arrived at Wesleyan, he has consistently promised to make protecting, even increasing, financial aid a priority. This administration has also trumpeted its notable transparency. We are puzzled, then, by the administration’s recent decision to end need-blind admission for transfer students, perhaps even more so by the secrecy that accompanied this major move: the only way students have received this news has been through a WSA e-mail.
Perhaps the problem lies in the unrealistic promises that the administration made in an unstable and unpredictable economic climate: in March, for example, President Roth wrote on his blog that plans were in place to increase the financial aid budget for the next year by more than 8%; at this point, the number is closer to 6%. However, one of the school’s core values, that of ensuring that cost is not an issue for prospective students, is now being compromised in a way that we did not anticipate; we knew there would be cuts and downsizing, but not in so crucial an area. Perhaps we should have recognized that cuts in nearly every area were inevitable, but students deserve to be included in the conversation when such drastic changes are undertaken.
Last year, when the University faced staggering deficits, the administration was surprisingly open about the responses it was considering. That makes this year’s secrecy all the more striking. When our reporter tried to write a story about our endowment, our budget, and our administration’s money-saving measures, she was given a three-week-long runaround through various administrative departments before getting any hard numbers.
What’s the point? Is the administration trying to suppress questions, already circulating in some quarters, as to whether the University can still call itself need-blind? If so, it won’t work; sooner or later Wesleyan’s status is going to become clear. At this point, we won’t be kept in the dark for long. We know more cuts are coming. Give it to us straight—what are they?
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