When I was a freshman, five whole years ago, the word around Clark was that we were making huge rebounds from the Covid lockdown era, bringing back Gala and other campus events. By the time I was a junior, tuition had been raised significantly and the trust I had in this administration was obliterated.

One of the biggest blows to my faith in this institution’s leadership was finding out how much President Fithian gets paid, the fact that he lives in a giant mansion, and he and his husband’s horse breeding project which is either A.) funded with our tuition money, or B.) simple proof that he has all the money he needs without sucking a learning institution dry. The notion that Clark is “struggling financially” is an insult to every single person on this campus who is aware of the wealth being accrued from our pockets and at the expense of our education.

Clark should just rip off the bandaid and shut down everything but business and computer science, seeing as other programs are being purged of faculty or outright dismantled. History students, including myself, were asked about how the program could be improved at the same time as we found out there was talk of downsizing the history faculty. In what world does it make sense to force faculty to ask students about program improvements while holding their position over their head? Why do the hard-working professors need to fear for their jobs when they are the reason for the entire success of the history department? My tuition dollars should go to the university, but it just lines the pockets of greedy individuals with no respect for education or those they supposedly serve.

Then there is the time when Clark skyrocketed their own transfer rate by cramming three freshmen, who were not informed of the arrangement, into a room meant for two people. Naturally, students hated this and many showed up with too many belongings because they were under the false impression that they would have personal space in their own dorm room. How silly of them.

To be blunt, I would have turned around and left the second I saw the living arrangement and transferred schools. Many attempted to stay, but transferred after one or two semesters due to the stuffy arrangement and clear indication of institutional issues. The reasoning for this plan? Make up for the lack of new students during the height of the pandemic. No reason other than money, and as always the students have to pay for it.

Things got even worse when students found mice and their droppings in their rooms. Why do we pay money to live in dorms full of mold and rodents? Why did the wall of my JSC dorm leak and grow mold? As someone said to me today, “Clark solved their own housing issue by making no one want to come here anymore.”

To summarize, David Fithian and the rest of Clark’s administration are running this university into the ground by using it as their own personal cash cow with zero regard for the well-being of its students, professors, and faculty. I enjoyed my time here, but unfortunately, I cannot recommend this university to any prospective students because I have zero confidence in this administration, both in capability and basic morality. I believe Clark is not going to exist in five years due to this mismanagement, with no end.