Opinion: An Open Letter to Gettysburg College Seniors
(Photo courtesy of Mary Frasier)
By Joshua González, Opinions Editor, and Abigail Marconi, staff writer
The Gettysburg experience was one that was advertised as the total package — the academic and social opportunities to expand our horizons were endlessly presented to us. One of our fondest memories was visiting campus on Get Acquainted Day and getting a glimpse into what makes our campus community truly special. After the infamous email that was sent out to students, faculty, and parents last weekend, we have had a part of our senior year taken from us. We are shocked and dismayed by the administration’s pitiful lack of enforcement and accountability; it is a shame that it reached the point of sending everyone home, putting the financial and medical situation of its students, staff, and institution in harm’s way.
We lament the loss of our final year at Gettysburg. This campus isn’t solely a place to receive an education — for many of us, it has become a home. The camaraderie we have forged with each other and with faculty makes the administration’s decision all the more painful, because these are some of the last moments we have together. We envisioned our senior year as being a beautiful finale, a testament to the campus story we have been writing since we were freshmen. It is heart wrenching to have those concluding pages torn from us before we could fill them with memories.
That being said, the brilliant community of seniors we have at Gettysburg College is resilient. While it is necessary to lament these awful circumstances, we will not lament forever. The senior class will rise above the drama, the blame, the pity, and everything else that resides in a lower state of being. We will look after each other and the rest of the disheartened student body. We will show love by supporting one another’s emotional and mental health. When it feels like the administration abandoned us, we will not abandon each other. Now is the time to care for those we have come to love so much by ensuring that none of us get left behind.
Onward to graduation!
