Students oppose Occupy movement

Not all students echoed the sentiments of those involved in the Occupy Sadler movement held Thursday evening in front of Sadler Hall.

Some students used the official Facebook event page or the #OccupySadler trending topic on Twitter to express their disdain for the movement while others simply avoided the gathering altogether. There were many reasons why anti-occupiers believed that the protest was unnecessary. Some students felt that an increase was beneficial to the college and that some of the occupiers were not justified in their actions.

“I guess I support the raise in tuition because I think it makes TCU a better university overall, and they [the protesters] want to just do it for no reason,” sophomore business major Liz O’Malley said. “There’s a lot of schools in the United States that are raising tuition.” 

Universities across the country are increasing their rates annually. According to a study by finaid.org, institutions across America raise tuition on average by 8 percent each year. With a 6.5 percent increase on campus, sophomore finance and accounting major Jeff Tushaus not only not finds the increases fair but also sees the rewards behind them.

“It decreased within the increase, so, to complain is just ridiculous,” Tushaus said. “Since I’ve been here I’ve seen where this money is going. There’s construction. We have an awesome football team, and we have an awesome curriculum.” 

Another statistic in the study done by finaid.org stated that tuition rates increase at about twice the general inflation rate. Senior finance accounting major Jack Mathis believed that the Occupiers should take information such as inflation rates along with the value of the institution into consideration before participating in such a protest.

“If you look at statistics from the last 15 years or so, TCU’s average increase in tuition is actually lower than a lot of state universities, especially in Texas,” Mathis said. “If you want a nicer university, you’re going to have to pay for it, and tuition increases are the only way to do that.”

Regardless of whether or not students chose to participate in the movement, both sides were adamant about the value of a purple diploma. The question became whether or not the diploma was worth the financial increases. Tushaus not only believes the degree is worth every penny, but also that eventually the protesters will believe the same.

“You’re going to a great school, and ten years down the road you’re really going to see what this money is going towards. It’s going to be an amazing university, and when you get to say that you graduated from TCU, you’ll know why they just had that tuition increase.”