Jan. 30, 2015
NEW HAVEN -- In what seems to be
an act of passion and self-preservation, students at Yale Dental School
gathered Monday morning in support of a student coalition protesting tuition
decreases for the upcoming academic year.
“Clearly, a tuition decrease can
only mean one thing, that the value of our education will also decrease,”
laments Kimberly Fioretti, the dental student who organized the rally.
“With annual tuition dipping
below $90,000 for the first time in five years, I am now unsure of the quality
of the education that I will be receiving. Is my dental school investment worth
it? I don’t know anymore.”
Historically, tuition and clinic
fees increase by approximately 5% per year. But with the strength of the dollar
increasing in foreign markets, and with oil prices continuing to drop
compounded by the most recent measles outbreak, the school trustees had no
option but to lower the cost of education.
Yet despite futile attempts by
Dean Paula Embargo, B.A., M.S., D.D.S., M.D., M.B.A., Pharm.D., J.D., to
explain this rationale to the student body, students have responded in complete
opposition to the proposed tuition decrease.
“We are currently number one in
the country in terms of student debt,” shouted Fioretti to the crowd of
students who were picketing near a fence. “Next year, we will inevitably lose our
prestigious ranking. This is completely unacceptable. We must stop it!”
Students have appealed to alumni
with reason and logic. In fact, their key argument is non-debatable: that the
lower the tuition is, the lesser the amount of money they can borrow from the
government. This, in turn, would inhibit stimulus of the Las Vegas economy, thereby destabilizing global markets and exacerbate the effects of global warming.
In terms of student turnout, this
morning’s rally fell slightly short of last year’s rally where 12 students gathered in
protest of eliminating a live-patient licensure examination.
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