Compiled by Mikelyn Britt, Opinions Editor
Wesley Lill ’26
Wesley Lill ’26 (Photo provided)
As a freshman in Gettysburg College, I have had a fantastic first few weeks. It is everything that I could have hoped for, from the beautiful campus and town, the quality of the food, the wide variety of clubs, and most importantly, the amazing education that I am receiving from my professors. If I were to focus on one thing that I want Gettysburg to focus on in the future, I would ask the college to stay focused on supplying students with the tools that they need to receive an impactful education. From keeping the library open late to help students who need to study to providing easy access to educational assistance. I would like Gettysburg to stay committed to helping me and my peers get the best education possible during our time here.
Deirdre Sullivan ’23
Deirdre Sullivan ’23 (Photo Eric Lippe/The Gettysburgian)
“I want the college to prioritize the affordability of class materials. Results of a 2019 campus survey show that the cost of course materials can have detrimental impacts on student success and emotional well-being. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, issues of academic and financial equity have become more relevant. Professors can help with the financial strain of courses by working to make their classes low-cost or zero-cost. This can be done in many ways, such as using open access materials. While the library works on affordability issues in our classrooms, it can be a student-led initiative. Students that feel passionate about the affordability of course materials can reach out to the library and see how they can get involved.”
Leah Attai ’23
Leah Attai ’23 (Photo Eric Lippe/The Gettysburgian)
“I want the college to prioritize the safety of students of color on campus. The recent events at D-House have been glossed over by the community. At the time I am writing this, students have only received a brief email regarding the racialized harassment and physical assault of our friends and classmates. There has been no communication from President Iuliano. The Gettysburg Times called the 10-person assault a ‘fight’. I’ve heard my white peers reduce the violence inflicted to ‘harmless’ townie behavior. D-House and its members have received racialized harassment every year I’ve been on campus. Too many students of color have had racist remarks and slurs hurled at them by the greater Gettysburg community. The lack of attention and support is telling us we are unimportant and it needs to change.”
Aidan B. Wisniewski-Campo ’24
Aidan B. Wisniewski-Campo ’24 (Photo Eric Lippe/The Gettysburgian)
“Seeing the college enhance its commitment to ensuring that students can seamlessly fulfill all of their Gettysburg General requirements in conjunction with their major requirements would amount to a significant incentive for more students to travel abroad, further explore students activities on campus, and have greater autonomy in course engagement. From a junior perspective, having the college address its efforts towards simplifying the general Gettysburg [Curriculum] while also partnering with overseas institutions for a more obtainable credit transfer should warrant an academic priority. We live in a ever changing, globalized world and by enabling our students to have broader course latitude, choice and flexibility, we inspire greater academic retention, a well versed student body that majors and minors in multiples heterogeneous disciplines, and enable them to engage with the worlds culture, markets and opportunities in multiple semesters.”
Katherine L. Speltz ’25
Katherine L. Speltz ’25 (Photo Eric Lippe/The Gettysburgian)
“Gettysburg College prides itself on being a school with fantastic dining services, high end facilities, and top notch on campus health care. But can we really consider our health care “top notch” if it isn’t readily accessible when the students need it most? It’s common knowledge that germs spread quickly on a college campus. We can’t avoid it. With large numbers of students all living together in close quarters it is inevitable that when something starts going around, almost everyone will catch it. Our campus health center needs to be prepared for these large waves of demand from the students, as last year it clearly wasn’t ready. Last spring while an illness was rapidly spreading, large numbers of students were turned away from our health center and put on waiting lists that grew up to two weeks long. These sorts of waiting lists are completely unacceptable, and changes should be made in order to effectively serve our student body.”
Scott Hancock Chairperson & Assistant Professor of Africana Studies
Chairperson and Assistant Professor of Africana Studies Scott Hancock (Photo courtesy of Gettysburg College)
“I’d like to see Gettysburg College devise actionable plans for three items: ensuring that the new chief diversity officer has independent power to make and implement decisions; make as public as legally possible as much explicit information about all sexual assault cases and all incidents of any kind of bias, from the occurrence to resolution. Greater transparency for the entire process will produce greater security, equity and a more effective learning environment to ensure student success (the new buzzterm), and reduce perceptions, justified or not, that at times the college may be more concerned about image than reality.”
This article originally appeared on pages 14–15 of the September 2022 edition of The Gettysburgian’s magazine.
