Every year, President Richard Freeland presents his State of the University address. And, as with most “state of” addresses, it’s a lot of fluff, with “truths” seen through the rose-colored glasses of the speaker.
The Northeastern State of the University address is no different. While the lack of substance is a problem, what’s really missing is the state of the students.
Very few students attend the State of the University address, and why would they? The speeches aren’t directed towards students; they are directed towards faculty and alumni donors. Members of the Student Government Association attend and we, The Northeastern News, report on it, but the majority of students will pass through this week without hearing a word about it.
So, we politely ask, why is there no state of the university directed only to the students?
The state of the students right now has nothing to do with retention rates or admission selectivity. It has to do with feeling targeted.
Over the past year, Northeastern students have been unfairly targeted for a number of things. The perceived behavior of students has even recently caused our city councilor to request that student addresses be given out to the police, a treatment similar to sex offenders. And even though the university appears to be unwilling to do that, it’s too little, too late in the “having our back” department. We’ve already been sold out as delinquents.
We’re sick of hearing about the riots and the Top 100, we want to hear about the proceedings of the university. We want to know exactly what Northeastern plans to do with our money. We want to know what they are going to do with our money now, not in five or 10 years, when we can’t appreciate the results. From freshmen to seniors, what will change for the better while we’re here?
We want to hear all of this and we’re not going to drag ourselves to a poorly-advertised function filled with people that have no idea what we face as students.
How many times a year does the president hold meetings or give a speech directly to students? It only happens during the wake of things like the Springfest cancelation, or through a letter to the editor or posting on the Myneu Web site that has been so PR packaged that it’s impossible to relate.
It’s easy to forget that without students, there is no university. It’s easy to forget we are customers here. When you are shelling out $30,000 plus a year, it’s easy to feel like you are just a paycheck, a stat, a number. It’s time to get what we pay for.
