Friday, October 19, 2001

Here at Home
University should teach, not parent

Once acclimated to university life, students often make TCU their home away from home. And in many ways, TCU does become a second home for students.

Unfortunately, that new home also comes complete with a new set of parents.

TCU administration officials say that the university no longer acts in loco parentis or in place of the parent. TCU may have come a long way from regulating almost all aspects of student life from libido to laundry but expectations and attitudes favoring in loco parentis can still be seen.

Roger Fisher, director of residential services, attributes the university’s residual parental role to parental expectations.

“Some parents still want students ... to be coddled and baby-sat, but many students go to college to get away from home and to be treated like an adult,” he said.

Students should be treated like an adult, but at TCU they are babied pampered.

Since TCU’s mission is to educate students to become “... responsible citizens in the global community,” then the university should not provide opportunities for students to avoid responsibility.

The excesses of being able to charge books, vending, laundry, photo copies, cosmetics at the bookstore, parking tickets and alcohol violations to the student account teaches students nothing about being responsible for themselves or accountable for their actions.

Wendy Crowly, assistant director of financial services, said even if a student is willing to pay for an alcohol violation fee or parking ticket, those fees will still appear on the student account bill as “alcohol/drug policy violation” and “parking fine” as a credit.

It’s one thing to spend your parents money frivolously on T-shirts, computer games and picture frames at the bookstore, but instead of being held responsible for legal violations, many TCU students still have their tickets automatically taken care of by mommy and daddy.

TCU graduates may face a rude awakening when after four years of buying now and paying later, the bill collectors will be at their door and not at their parents’.