Despite how Asher Roth characterizes college in his hit single, the college experience of most Marquette students is far more dynamic and substantive. Our university is full of real people with real hopes and dreams, real ambitions and aspirations and real challenges and struggles. Sure, weekends are often host to a menagerie of beer pong games and keg stands, but overall students at Marquette care, and would like to believe that Marquette cares about them. Yet, many students continue to struggle financially and spiritually. Some would even say that they feel like Marquette does not care about them. These, the least among us, are those whose advice we should listen to above all.
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Firstly, it would be hard to deny that the vast majority of students have encountered at least some financial obstacles since enrolling at Marquette, challenges which should be expected when attending private school. While I would never advocate for any private school to simply dispense funds, it would be nice to see more scholarships offered, not only of an academic type, but other types as well. I have a friend who recently confessed to me that he was considering leaving Marquette because he could no longer afford it. He had gone to talk to representatives from the Office of Student Financial Aid, but let’s be serious, the red-tape within the University’s departments is outrageous. More dismaying to my friend than possibly having to leave Marquette was his experience with the University’s various offices that seem to care more about making money than about serving students. Many schools will give scholarship aid to people who have done large verifiable amounts of community service, have served in the armed forces or have engaged in many other categories of laudable activities. Marquette often talks about increasing student financial aid; merit based awards for service and achievement might be a good place to start.
Secondly, addressing spirituality, Marquette is a Catholic university, a fact that is reflected in some places better than others. I’ve lived in residence halls for three years, one as a resident and two as a Resident Assistant, and in that time I have encountered some useless hall ministers. In fact, in those three years I am very confident I have done more ministering than most of the hall ministers I’ve known. Now, it’s a tough job – especially when the minister is older; students cannot always relate to a prim and proper graduate student in theology, nor can they always relate to a Jesuit priest. Because of this void that occurs early on in a student’s collegiate journey, many students never connect their daily lives to a spiritual reality. Hall ministers need to do a better job of reaching out, they need to be more visible and make themselves more available. Father Majka in Schroeder does a good job of this when he prowls the dining hall and engages random students. Many students come to Marquette wrestling with questions about their identity and spirituality, and if given the opportunity almost every student will talk about their views on faith, morals and God. As a Catholic institution, Marquette needs to do a better job of answering their questions. The University offers plenty of resources, but since most students are not proactive enough to seek out those resources, Marquette needs to do a better job of seeking out students. ??????? ? ???????? ????? ???????? ???? ???? ??????
Finally, there are many things the University can do to enhance the experience of students, and make their collegiate journey less financially terrifying and more spiritually rewarding. While I am sure every student could talk at length about how to improve the University, I know that the suggestions I have offered here are practical ones that the University administration will value and appreciate. I hope that readers have time to reflect on how Marquette can improve, and how each one of us can help make those improvements.
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