Thursday, February 18, 2010

$5000 tuition increase, more issues raised.

When one pays a high price for a service, one expects the highest quality and care from that particular service.

In regards to education, depending on the price, one expects a quality education with quality facilities to aid in that education, and fulfilling collegiate experiences.

When that education is privatized, these standards are normally held much higher than public schools.

However, there is a serious problem when public schools offer much more than a private school, not just in one factor, but in many.

Thus lies the problem with Tuskegee University. Tuskegee makes its money by enticing students with it's name and past prestige, enamoring students with glamorized college tours, while masking its many flaws until it is too late. It has the audacity of comparing itself as the "Black Version of the Ivy League school", when it is everything short of a public school, and centuries away from an Ivy Leaguer of any type.

Let's bring up some issues. Why are all the dorms suffering from molding issues, and why isn't there any money allocated to the renovation of the dormitories? Or any monies allocated to the building of more?

Why is there a honors dorm for all girls (White), stocked with computer labs and full of other amenities, such as study rooms, but there isn't one for boys? In fact, there isn't a computer lab at all in any of the male dorms. There are dorms with their own bathrooms for the ladies in certain dorms such as Sage, but everyone else is sacked with community bathrooms which are subject to feces in the shower and other immature and disgusting acts. Yes, we did say feces in the shower. This was a major issue in Younge, Adams, and Olivia Davidson.

Why aren't corrupt staff members held accountable for their actions?

Why does the university refuse to do extensive background checks on those they hire? Lt. Moon was a prime example. Lt. Moon was in charge of the police force at Tuskegee University. A month after the fall 2009 semester started, it was discovered that he was raping high school students at the near-by high-school.

http://www.wsfa.com/Global/story.asp?S=11357263

Now, if this man was preying on High Schoolers, there's a possibility that people like him would prey on unsuspecting and often naive freshmen that come to this embarrassing and deplorable institute every year. Would you want to send your daughter to a school that is known for employing rapists on its books?

That is a side tangent however, irrelevant, but still important to bring up. Let us bring up other issues with this school that costs $24000 a year to attend. We received a particular email from a student, and we want to share it with you all. It has been modified to maintain anonymity.

"I live in the emerys and there is mold in my room, paint peeling and leaks. This is simply unacceptable. I feel like if I would have gone to another HBCU with a less prestigious name, I'd have better living facilities. Also, the school's unwillingness to cater to the wide range of student diets is puzzling to me. I'm a sophomore, and since I've been here basically the only thing I can eat everyday is a turkey burger and french fries, because I don't eat beef, pork, or very many diary products.
That's just the room and board problems, I think the bigger problem is the education I'm receiving. As a biology major, I would have thought I'd be doing amazing experiments that will actually help my life work, but instead I'm stuck in a genetics lab counting black and white beans, while other schools are doing more in depth labs that will prepare them for medical school and beyond. Makes no sense at all.

If there's anything I can do to help you, please let me know. Its time for Tuskegee to stop pretending to be excellent and actually become it."
The bolded part for emphasis, this email raises a lot of issues. For $24000 a year, you are basically going to a community college instead of a University that prepares you for your career. Instead of receiving in-depth training on the field you're going to, you're getting a half-assed education. So if you go to grad school, you'll be behind the other students who were more prepared by going to public universities or other schools that were not substandard. 
Ouch Tuskegee, Benjamin Payton, instead of embezzling funds from the University's endowment and resting on your "accomplishments", why not do something about this? 

What about the security problems? Many students on campus brag about having firearms in their dorm. It has been reported to us by many students concerned by their safety that the administration seems to refuse to do anything about this. They have been reported, yet they're still on campus. Security isn't called in, dorms aren't searched, nothing.  

What about the Tuskegee locals? Benjamin Payton was prided at a convocation for replacing the fence around the campus (like a fence is really that important to pride yourself over, big deal). However, dangerous locals still sneak on campus and harass students, even robbing them at key locations on campus. (Such as the Valley, near dorms, etc.) These locals are armed with weaponry obviously, such as firearms and knives, yet security doesn't seem to care. They've been observed not even completing patrols and just letting any old person in. ID or not, no one really cares. 

What about the tuition increase? It has been reported that because of the new president coming in, tuition will spike by $5000. Which would make tuition float about $29000 to $30000. It is possible that this is only a rumor, but based on the amount of sources that this is coming from, it's pretty significant. 

Let us bring up another point. A few students have noted that Auburn University likes to recruit students from Tuskegee University. It's pretty obvious as to why. Another one noted that Auburn has everything (such as better dorms, a 24 hour cafe with plenty of selections, a shuttle, in depth classes and labs, etc.) because "the white people complain". Is it that black students are sated with mediocrity? While mining social networks, a few students seem to even be brainwashed that "long lines, power outages, and faxing stuff 3 or 4 times (inaccurate filing) are part of the HBCU experience". This is sad on many levels and unacceptable. 

A school that is charging $24000 for tuition, room and board should NOT be riddled with power outages, inaccurate paperwork filing, and inaccurate clerical processes that leads to long lines. What's even more of an insult is that these students believe that the Tuskegee name has power. Not only is this a clear example of the common black student's attitude of mediocrity, it also shows the propaganda that Tuskegee uses in order to keep students in check. You're saying that because of George Washington Carver and LEWIS ADAMS (the original founder of Tuskegee) and the Airmen, that gives the school the excuse to be mediocre? It seems that the black student has his/her priorities screwed up, and this is the type of attitude that sets blacks as a race backwards instead of forward. 

The student that complains about the content of her labs is an intelligent one, the student that thinks the HBCU experience being mediocre is acceptable is an idiot. Sadly, Tuskegee is riddled with idiots about, and the intelligent ones are the rare ones. It is no wonder that most students transfer out to schools such as Auburn, it is because these schools have more opportunities and actually care about its students, unlike Tuskegee and its corrupt administration such as Benjamin Payton. This is why this blog is anonymous instead of publicly active. Benjamin Payton oppressed and silenced the students long ago, suppressing any uprisings in the 90s. The average student could not complain, only transfer.

The worse part is most credits from Tuskegee have problems transferring, and Tuskegee denies most credits transferred to it, in order to make more money and to delay more students from graduating, so it can make even more money from another year of tuition. 
For $24000 a year, plus money from the government and other corporations, why is it that these buildings have not been renovated again? Oh that's right, Benjamin Payton is too busy lining his own Swiss bank accounts. The school deserves to be audited by the federal government. These questions need to be answered.

If Tuskegee possessed the attitude that it attempted to project, it would surpass schools such as Harvard. However, because of the terrible, inefficient and corrupt administration, it is centuries behind and will never be anything more than an expensive poor corrupt black school for coloreds out in the country.

We recommend that you do not apply to Tuskegee, and if you're an unfortunate student, to transfer. Tuskegee is not worth the money, it is only a waste of your money, time, and mental stability.

We  were recently featured by HBCU Digest. We would like to thank the editor of the publication for featuring us in their newsletter.

We also welcome your complaints and photos at tuskegeeexposed@gmail.com. Got a problem with administration? Your RA? Your dorm? Cafe food made you sick? Tuskegee local tried to rob you? Got mold on your ceiling? We want to hear and write about it! Drop us a line.


3 comments:

  1. Black People,
    What the hell is wrong with you? If this were a white school this wouldn't even be going down like this. We’d have better everything because white people help out white people. Why are we being punished for wanting to be with our own people? We go to HBCUs to feel the love from our own not to be taken advantage of. People have a right to be upset and people have a right to complain. We deserve just as much if not more of the things white schools enjoy. And this is not luxury we are just speaking of it is everything. Better labs, nor rusty lab equipment, non mold infested dorms, better food.
    As the former Editor in Chief of The Campus Digest I want to tell you that change comes through complaints. I complained and gave options for change but it all fell on deaf ears. I've seen behind the scenes and it is appalling. When Sodexho went into all of the Commons last year and stole everyone's possessions under the ruse of "painting the walls" what did the campus do? Nothing. Even when the students tried to talk to the provost they were continually deterred. The director of student affairs told them to keep trying and that was all he could do. We want change and we deserve it. If you are willing to sit around and wait for it to happen then you are a fool. Change might come in a new president but it might not if no one says anything. This new person could come in thinking everything is fine since no one is saying anything. We are not in pre-civil rights mode. We are free and if we want change we need to make it happen ourselves.
    To the writer of this blog keep writing. Don’t get trashy with it just bring things to light. Always stick with the facts because at the end of the day we all love Tuskegee and want to see it continue into the future. I have plenty of battle scars from my time there but I will still say in a minute that I love Tuskegee. And plan a quiet protest or two. Get the current students involved. And stop talking about “Black Ivy League”. Why do we always need a “black” in front of everything? We should want to be the BEST, not just the “Best Black” but the best ANYTHING. I will love thee forever and ever shall walk through the oncoming years at thy side.
    Rosie

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  2. WOW. I stumbled across this article on CNN.com and am just at a loss for words.

    Ok, not really. A great travesty is playing out here, and there is one element that threads through it and just about every other Black american ill: a sort of "fuss and wonder" psychological phenomenon. Even I engage in it frequently. We know how to identify a symptom, sometimes the underlying cause, we know how to compare ourselves negatively, and we DEFINITELY know how to be defensive, but we are uncomfortable with 'tunnel-visioning' to a. The goal in this case is to have Tuskeegee University represent, in quality of sculpture and education, the institution of its image. Money and resources aside for a moment, what would a white CEO do? "Spend their money", yes that's true, but I mean, psychologically? I think they would research what it takes to upgrade a building. The legalese, the codes, all of it. Then I think they'd find out the cost. If they didn't have the money, they'd write a letter to (their) Tiger Woods, Denzel Washingtons, Oprah Winfreys, Tyler Perrys, Bill Cosbys, Wayans brothers, Spike Lees, EVERY SINGLE ONE and explain the situation. And when there was no response the first time, write another letter and another and another and go to the president of BET and broadcast it (which is why I admire the fact that this issue has been carefully documented, blogged and posted on CNN). My point is that the problem would be tackled, heck, CRUSADED, until it was solved. To be sure, money and resources definitely add size and weight to mental kahunas. But forming those kahunas (to continue crudely) and using them is a freebie. Hire a contractor. If you want, calculate your risk tolerance of expulsion/ retribution, and then for heaven's sake, like a spoiled white kid lol, GO DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT!!!! You can do it!

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