This letter to the editor was written by Jonathan Cole, student senator and senior in mechanical engineering. If you would like to write a letter to the Collegian, send us an email at letters@kstatecollegian.com or visit kstatecollegian.com/contact.
When I ran for student senate in the spring of 2018, I sought to fight against the onslaught of fee increases set forth by Darren Dawson, the dean of the College of Engineering.
His recent comments are a blatant disregard for the voice of the students and should alarm everyone on our campus.
Related:
Dean of Engineering makes case for proposed course fee increase
At $99 per credit hour, the College of Engineering charges more extra fees per credit hour than any other academic unit on campus. It is empirical that higher costs of education ultimately hurt the state of Kansas by making education unaffordable.
Dawson has threatened that “if [the increase] doesn’t pass next year, we will bring it back the next year and we will continue to bring it back all the way until the end of the [University Engineering Initiative Act] cycle.”
This is a slap in the face of students, particularly undergrads. Kansas State University has a shared governing system to combat this dogmatic rhetoric, and the dean should be ashamed to even think in this manner.
I will always fight for education to be accessible and affordable. I am calling upon College of Engineering students everywhere to stand up against Dawson. In addition, I am calling upon President Richard Myers, Provost Charles Taber and vice president of student life Pat Bosco to take action and stand up for students.
Finally, I demand that Dean Dawson apologizes for his remarks.
Closed mouths don’t get fed, Wildcats. We need to take action on our education.
Jonathan Cole is a student senator and senior in mechanical engineering. The views and opinions expressed in this letter are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the Collegian. Please send comments to opinion@kstatecollegian.com.
