On Aug. 21, the App State Hickory Campus opened to students. This is a dream for many students who want to attend App State’s main campus, but can’t afford housing or don’t want to go to a big school. However, for App State’s main campus students, the Hickory Campus has become a nightmare.
It might be easy to look at all the upsides to having a satellite campus. The school gets more money, more students are able to attend, classes are easier to get into and scholarships are easier to obtain. Satellite campuses should be a good thing and should be recognized as such by the main campus’s student body. Yet, there is a lot of pushback from main campus students about the Hickory Campus that you start to wonder why.
The Hickory Campus’s building was purchased on Nov. 19, 2021. The university advertises it as such an amazing place to be, in the middle of everything, including being close to downtown Hickory.
With App State, the main campus is nowhere close to being managed well and needs the money being put into the Hickory Campus. Students are upset, because it seems as though Chancellor Sheri Everts is attempting to create a new place to live, one where the student body does not oppose her constantly.
App State’s main campus is struggling and it is known amongst App State students. Look at all the issues: housing, classes, academic buildings and more. The focus should not be on other campuses until the main campus is fixed. The Hickory Campus does not help the student body, but instead is becoming a money machine for Everts.
App State needs the funding to go back into the main campus, where most students live and rely upon for an education. The money also needs to go towards important things, unlike the tunnels that are currently being remodeled or campus kiosks that are only getting in the way. Sadly, Everts does not see it this way.
Have you ever heard the expression “jump ship”? When things are getting bad so you run to another thing to escape? How about the billionaires that are attempting to leave Earth and live on another planet because Earth is becoming a toxic wasteland? See the connections yet? Everts is jumping ship, running away from the problems she caused at App State.
She continues to ignore student complaints and push back, causing chaos on the main campus, while painting everything as good. Then, she continues to put money into the Hickory Campus, advertising it as though it is as good as App State, hoping to gain more money and more students, because App State’s main campus can not hold more students.
Students should have an option to go to the Hickory Campus if they can not afford App State’s housing. Satellite campuses are a great way to gain a college experience without having to pay full price for one. Everyone should have an opportunity for higher education and the idea of a cheaper option being out there is great, especially when there are no other opportunities in the area.
However, the main campus should be a main focus before putting money into another spot. This is not to discourage students from going to the Hickory Campus, but to bring awareness to how much of the main campus is being pushed aside to make room for Everts’s great escape.
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