Constructing more buildings on campus brings an array of benefits to Boston University. The campus looks better, wealthier prospective students are drawn to brand new facilities and the school becomes more desirable to donors. Although new dormitories like a Student Village III on campus add to the impressive Boston University skyline, old classrooms and dormitories are forgotten in its shadow.
According to a Harvard University study released Tuesday, students think a most prominent reason for tuition hikes over the past decade is overzealous building projects. Look at 100 Bay State Road on our campus. Tuition rose as construction workers erected the new dining hall, offices and study areas, and $50 million dollars later, Marciano Commons towered in the corner of Kenmore Square.
Buildings such as Marciano Commons serve the entire student body and consolidated small dining halls close by, but new dormitories only serve newer, wealthier students in the future. Why hasn’t Myles Standish Hall been renovated? Old bathrooms are simply repainted every year instead of repaired. Elevators consistently break down with students inside. Old dormitories are left in the dust so that BU can impress its worldwide audience.
Most of the money used to build StuVi III will come from current students’ pockets, but they will never be able to live in it. Why are funds allotted to serve future students as opposed to reinvigorating classrooms in CAS? Most of that building looks like a bad high school. Yes, the lecture halls are top notch, but there are dozens of rooms with poor climate control and old desks. BU administrators should plan to forego dilapidation instead of masking it with brand new buildings.
Skyrocketing tuition should serve to benefit those paying it, with implementation of programs that benefit the current community as well as subsequent ones. Simultaneously, BU must compete with Harvard as it expands into Allston and Northeastern University as more highrises climb into the sky on its side of the city. Departments at school are literally falling apart while future students can look forward to basking in their prime views of the Charles River.
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