By Tristan Weisenbach
Editor-in-Chief
It has been two and a half years since I first joined the editorial board of The Signal, and three and a half years since I first stepped foot onto the College’s campus as a student.
One might assume that by being a student here, I would surely have learned quite quickly of the College’s grim financial state: over $300 million in total debts.
However, it wasn’t until The Signal published an article last November about this surmounting debt that I realized the fragile and truthfully scary position that our school is in — along with many other institutions of higher education across America.
Other colleges and universities in New Jersey, such as New Jersey City University, are facing similar budgetary challenges. In the case of the College, a lack of adequate state funding is partly to blame.
Our school saw the lowest percent increase in state funding from 2013 to 2023 compared to all other public, four-year colleges and universities in New Jersey, according to a 2024 memo from the College’s branch of the American Federation of Teachers union.
With so much on the line, it takes an entire college community to solve a financial deprivation of such magnitude. College student media, while it can’t provide monetary funds, can offer the easiest avenue to successfully decide what to do with what we have.
The Signal keeps the college community informed by publishing articles about new initiatives envisioned by President Michael Bernstein in collaboration with other individuals and teams from the administration to address budget shortfalls. Some examples include a 4% tuition increase, the establishment of a new School of Graduate, Global and Online Education and ending free interlibrary loans, among others.
The latter, which was suggested to reduce spending costs by the library, received considerable backlash from students on campus, particularly those who are English majors and utilize interlibrary loans most often. The Signal published an article outlining these students’ concerns.
Student media goes beyond just serving students, too — it can provide a space for faculty, staff or any other individual to voice their opinion in the form of a letter to the editor regarding potential college actions.
As the College grapples with personnel departures in-part due to financial constraints, Marimar Huguet Jerez, department chair of world languages and culture, shared her outlook in a letter to the editor on the current faculty vacancies in her department and how she thinks it could impact students. In a responding letter to the editor, Interim Provost Suzanne McCotter addressed the concerns that were raised.
This back-and-forth allows for open dialogue around shared problems, rather than behind closed doors at faculty meetings. It allows a greater sense of transparency with the entire campus community, not just between those who ultimately hold the power to have the final say in how the institution will move forward.
College student media is traditionally a place for prospective journalists to get a few years of professional newsroom experience under their belt before they graduate. But it is also just that — a professional newsroom, working to inform the public about real world problems that impact us on a day-to-day basis.
A college newsroom should report on the events, festivals, concerts and attractions that highlight the hustle and bustle of our campus. But it should also investigate information about the core issues that inevitably plague every American higher education institution, whether it be financial hardships or other concerns.
In doing so, college student media can be the backbone of the incredibly detailed process that is needed to reach a common, agreeable solution forward. It can be a tool to bring us together and reach a consensus about how to make the most of what we are fortunate enough to have in college.
