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By Macy Waddle
I read this title quote from the University of Pennsylvania provost in an article by Inside Higher Ed on post COVID-era college. This article also presented some other interesting facts from a student survey they conducted:
“43 percent of those back to campus in some capacity are at least somewhat satisfied with the extent to which they can see friends and meet peers; 38 percent are at least somewhat dissatisfied. Satisfaction is greater at private nonprofit colleges (50 percent) than at public institutions (39 percent).”
“40 percent of students back on campus are at least somewhat satisfied about their ability to connect with faculty and staff; 34 percent feel dissatisfied. Older students are more likely to report extreme satisfaction - 43 percent of those 24 and up compared to 12 percent of all students.”
Of course this information does not encapsulate every college student’s experience, but naturally upon reading this my mind immediately applied this information to UofL; in doing this I realized my situation is unique for a number of reasons, one of these being that I’m a first semester freshman and have only experienced the university from a student perspective for a few months. The second reason is that UofL is not just emerging from COVID, but from a period of scandals after scandals and major staffing changes, leaving the university (at one point) with no athletic director, president, provost, or men’s basketball coach. The university truly has had the opportunity to turn a completely new page and they have taken advantage of that with a new “rebrand” in early 2022. I was captivated to know if any of this proved effective.
I sent out a quick survey to a few seniors to see how their freshman year experiences differed from this year and here were some of their answers *please note responses were limited to around 7 people and may not be representative of the whole student body*:
What are major changes you’ve seen on campus since 2019?
“There definitely aren’t as many major events. People always used to go to SGA/SAB/ELSB events, and there are so many that are gone now!”
“Covid has greatly affected the way that campus feels to me, but major changes have been mainly internal, none that I notice externally by UofL.”
“Lack of student engagement.”
“Campus culture has changed immensely. It’s a lot less vibrant and interconnected. In a place where SGA and Greek life used to be a connector between people its created stronger cliques.”
Many of these answers are reflective of the data from the initial article I read and in no way do I think lack of student engagement is due to leadership in these student organizations, I in fact applaud the efforts they have taken this year to create events for students. What’s to blame then you ask? In my opinion, this is due to the fact that post pandemic, people are okay with doing nothing. Sure, pre-pandemic there were people who already felt this way, but after months of staying home or doing this virtually, it becomes difficult to get up and participate suddenly after two years of essentially nothing. However, the following feedback gave the impression that there’s more going on than just engagement issues.
How has campus morale and school pride changed compared to your freshman year?
“Campus morale was so much better freshman year. I definitely felt more connected and a part of a community than I do now!”
“Covid has drained everyone of energy and I feel like we are just now getting it back but then we have the political and social issues in the world right now and everyone hates life. School pride is down because pride in life is down.”
“I think morale is higher this year than I remember from freshman year.”
“It’s lessened. Now people openly mock the university and administration as opposed to a modicum of pride that used to exist.”
Has UofL done well in its rebranding emerging from a series of scandals, staffing changes, and the pandemic?
4 out of 7 students said yes, 2 students said no, and 1 student said “in some ways but not all”.
“They “rebranded” and said they were being more inclusive, but I don’t know a single professor or student who feels that way. I feel like their rebranding was solely for their public image to donors, but there are still groups struggling to get a voice with administration on campus.”
“I think they have done a good job in merchandising and rebranding but still lack in other areas specific to education branding for departments.”
“I think UofL has forgotten what it takes to be a competitive higher learning institution. Well intentioned focus on newer objectives has distanced itself from reality.”
“We don’t even have a president. Have they hired more therapists yet? They raised tuition during a time when everyone was losing money.”
This is what I found fascinating. With well intended changes, it seems that many of the students I talked with think that it’s all surface level, at least as of now. There is so much opportunity here, yet I feel as if these steps to change were not planned out enough to ensure that everyone was on board, or even clear on what they are hopping on board with. Maybe this will improve with time, but as a current freshman and Louisville native, the university is not always held in high regard, both by the community and the students in it. Am I saying the university is bad? No, but I’m saying there is so much potential currently unused, both in the student body and the institution itself. It seems that after all UofL is in fact doing everything right and everything wrong simultaneously.
I leave you with these two suggestions given by surveyed students:
“Put students and staff first! Increase staff at the counseling center so they can take on new patients and provide more services, address the complaints that have been brought to administration by students and staff, and put less focus on building new athletic dorms in order to fix the housing and dining issues they already have.”
“Prioritize mental health. Seriously. More healthy food options. Get a president.”