Emory University is at a crossroads. I don’t refer to the series of ridiculous administrative and student decisions that have made our university appear to be a racist throwback from the Jim Crow South. I don’t refer to the news coverage about the endemic classism that we live with at Emory. These are disheartening events that have rocked us as a community, but they are events that are already in the past. What remains to be seen is how we move forward.
When I refer to a crossroads, I refer to a proposal to bring Emory up to par with 46 of the 50 top universities in the United States by ensuring that child care is affordable for students with dependents. Research shows that these programs specifically benefit female students, students of color and students from relatively disadvantaged backgrounds by allowing them to pursue their educations and fulfill their parenting responsibilities. Currently, student parents can choose to attend 46 of the top 50 universities in the United States without fearing that their children will be left in sub-standard environments while they are in class, but Emory is not in this 92 percent. While the administration fights accusations of racism and classism with branding and PR, it overwhelmingly tells the minority and low-SES students who beat the odds as young parents to gain admission that they should look elsewhere for their educations.
To be sure, the vast majority of undergraduate students at Emory do not have dependents. The number is so small that the proposal currently on the table is for graduate students – about 7 percent of whom are parents. Of this 7 percent, most have household incomes that would exclude them from any university subsidy under the current proposal. For a relatively small percentage living in low-income households, however, such a subsidy can make all the difference. Although other graduate schools offer to subsidize dependents’ tuition on a sliding scale based on household income, Emory students are free to pay the full tuition of $1,200 per month per child at the on-campus Clifton School or comparable rates at preschools throughout Atlanta. For those graduate students who live on an average stipend of under $20,000 per year, to attend Emory and raise children sets up failure.
When I began meetings regarding correcting what I naively assumed was an oversight on the part of the administration, I was confronted with a single argument – low-income students should choose between being parents and going to graduate school. Those making these arguments seemed not to realize that these feelings were problematic. This ignorance is indicative of a cultural problem, the same one written about in the Washington Post and the New York Times, seen on CNN and making its way across social media.
This problem is festering in an environment of intolerance, privilege and apathy that is so deeply ingrained that any suggestion to better it is met with resentment and distrust. The uncaring and unbelievably entitled responses to this proposal showed me that we, as an institution, have become unsustainably out-of-touch.
I have also been met with surprising amounts of support from students and administrators who want a better Emory, an Emory that is truly a community for all of us. This support has made it possible to hope that things can change. I write this op-ed with hope for the direction that the Emory community will choose to take at this crossroads.
I hope that we will not choose to go backwards, not choose to affirm the culture for which we have been so painfully, publicly, humiliated. I hope that we will make real changes to Emory that will bring us into step with other elite universities. And I know that these changes will not come without administrative commitment, commitment through initiatives like a subsidy program for early childhood education that is available to students in low-income households. Now is the time to make a conscious choice to bring all students into the community, and I hope we choose to do so.
Natalie Deckard is a PhD student in the Laney Graduate school from
The Emory Wheel was founded in 1919 and is currently the only independent, student-run newspaper of Emory University. The Wheel publishes weekly on Wednesdays during the academic year, except during University holidays and scheduled publication intermissions.
The Wheel is financially and editorially independent from the University. All of its content is generated by the Wheel’s more than 100 student staff members and contributing writers, and its printing costs are covered by profits from self-generated advertising sales.
Yes. This is constructive. Wagner needs to put his money where his mouth is and this is a good place to start. Plus, it’ll be good for people.
This would be a great chance for the university to redeem itself. Some people are pointing fingers at Wagner as an individual, but outsiders think his faux paus represents the entire university. It’s time for Emory to step it up.
Fully agree. Grad students are not just undergrads with a few years of work experience. They’re adults starting families and reconciling the tough demands that come with their roles as students, researchers, and parents. At most graduate schools, students pay a much smaller rate for on-campus education for their children. It’s surprising that Emory is the aberration, not the norm.
It’s refreshing to see a proposed, doable plan for bettering Emory. While this is a small part of a bigger issue, it’s a step in the right direction and would show a commitment by the University to make Emory more inclusive. There’s no reason why graduate students, who spend 5-7 years here, should have to postpone starting a family in order to attend Emory.
I don’t see this as a race issue as much as it is a class issue, but whatever Emory has big problems with both and I’m not an expert. Just do SOMETHING to be less embrassing, something real. I don’t think this would fix the problem or even be 10% of everything needed, but I can’t BELIEVE everyone else helps students like this and we just ignore them and then we’re all like “Yes, Emory values diversity.” Makes me angry…
I agree I am completely in favor of it. It is a shame that the message conveyed is: choose school or choose children. Apparently, if you are a an academically gifted parent, poor, and in need of child care, then Emory is not for you. It is a good thing there are 46 other schools to consider.