Neeley School fosters prejudice towards non-business majors

By Dana Strongin

Have you ever heard jokes pertaining to the exclusivity of the M.J. Neeley School of Business? I know I have — both faculty and students make them. It has always seemed to me that the school separates itself from the rest of the campus. Whenever I walk inside, I feel like I have entered a whole different university.

Everything is pristine, and many of the people inside walk with purposeful, confident strides. There are signs everywhere supporting “Neeley this” and “Neeley that.” The school shows definitive signs of pride. There is nothing wrong with a little spirit. However, in light of recent changes in the school, I have to say this pride may have gone a little too far.

You may have received the e-mails regarding the school’s decision to close upper-level classes to non-business majors and minors.

This means that declared business majors and minors will have top priority for enrollment in these classes. That is a great deal — if you are a business student. Wouldn’t all of us love to get that perk? I cannot say I know everything about every program at TCU, but I do know that not all students get that advantage. A business major could take a spot in a class I need for my degree and no one would blink an eye.

The e-mails were sure to remind us that anyone can take lower-division classes. How generous. I can take management and accounting classes. But what about marketing? I don’t know everyone who is affected by this decision, but I can guarantee that a lot of advertising/public relations majors are in a bind right now.

Students who major in advertising/public relations are required to pick a concentration and many choose marketing. This study helps those working in public relations and advertising understand the business side of promotion. Often, advertisements are created and public relations practitioners are hired as part of a larger marketing strategy. These three fields naturally go together, and the smart student should want exposure to all of them.

The solution for the advertising/public relations major sounds like a minor in marketing. Might I remind you that the business school doesn’t offer one? I was told that I should consider a minor in general business. Accounting and the other classes in this minor may be useful, but I seriously doubt their usefulness to advertisers when compared to marketing.

This decision is based upon increasing enrollment in business classes. It all comes down to too many students and not enough professors. This is a major problem in many universities. I was told that the large business classes were making TCU more like “Texas Christian State University.” This seems odd to me because I know that public universities in Kansas could experience serious funding cuts while their enrollment continues to increase, yet their students can still study what they need.

TCU is a private school, and it should provide a high-quality education, especially for the ever-increasing cost of tuition. We are paying more, and we are not experiencing funding cuts like those in Kansas. So where does our money go? I am reminded of pending projects like an outdoor pool and the new student center. Is TCU a university or a country club? I sometimes feel like we attract students because of green lawns and send-home Lancôme purchases in the bookstore instead of superior education.

One of TCU’s goals, as stated on TCU the Web site, is “To foster undergraduate and graduate studies of excellent quality.” I think that closing classes to students in this manner stunts our growth as informed citizens in the workplace. That indicates not a quality education, but a limited one. I do not know whether I should blame the decision-makers of Neeley for their overwhelming desire to protect their own students, or TCU as an institution for its poor spending choices.

Either way, something needs to be done if our education is really supposed to make us soar. Right now, it is just clipping our wings.

Guest columnist Dana Strongin is a freshman advertising/public relations major from Shawnee, Kan.
She can be reached at (d.e.strongin@student.tcu.edu).

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