There are unanswered questions as to how perilous Wartburg’s debt truly is after a recent article in the Chronicle of Higher Education by Goldie Blumenstyk and a response by interim President William Hamm.
Although the article addressed a crucial point of significance for all current and future students, it portrayed Wartburg as a school lacking administrative control and consisting of miserable students.
The article used Outfly for a Cause to report the “financial stresses” of the college are bothering the students. It failed to report it was the tuition increase that was on the student senate’s platform.
According to the article, Waverly is in an uproar over “The W,” quoting a sole citizen who disapproves of Waverly’s involvement in it.
Some of the article’s numbers and statistics don’t match up with Wartburg’s officially released percentages, raising questions in need of solid answers.
President Hamm responded with a letter to the editor of the Chronicle, defending Wartburg with a plethora of statistics. His numbers make Wartburg seem like it is in sound financial shape but still leaves questions as to how deep the school’s debt truly is and what the plan is to take care of it.
It would be interesting to see how Wartburg’s numbers match up with colleges across the country, numbers Blumenstyk failed to include in her article.
Yet the article quoted a financial consultant of small colleges who said many other institutions are in the same, if not worse, shape, and Wartburg’s current numbers do not mean the college has dire financial
problems.
Without that comparison, the risks the school has taken need to be acknowledged as a chance worth taking. No gains can be made without risks. For the article to seemingly criticize Wartburg for the risks before any clear results of progress can be recorded is wrong.
It is alarming to see Wartburg receiving national attention, not for an achievement, but a failure.
It is ultimately up to the current students and the students of the future to decide what kind of peril, if any, the school truly is in.