*Just a quick disclaimer: I am not trying to bash Colby or any alumni who donate to the school. That said, this article will explore the lack of funding for the arts at Colby, why this is, and how we can begin to even the scales.*
First things first, I am not a science or math person. I’ve always been that girl in every school play or dance; I was on Sesame Street when I was little (sure, I’m a child star) and I am an English Creative Writing major, a lover of cinema, creating videos, and music…you get it, I’m ~creative~.
Given all this, you can imagine my frustration at learning of yet another generous donation, $5 million to be exact, for a new bioscience program. This is the second major donation in the past four months to the biosciences department, and it surely will not be the last. While I recognize the importance of donations like these, and can’t wait to celebrate the accomplishments my peers will make given these incredible new resources, I can’t help but note the ever expanding gap between the arts and sciences on Colby’s campus.
Right now we are living in a time when art is beginning not to matter. Due to the current administration, the National Endowment for the Arts is under attack, and I can speak firsthand about the lack of funding and support for arts programs in public schools across the nation, since my own high school in Brooklyn, NY struggled greatly with providing even a basic visual arts class. With the rise of STEM and the ever-growing need for new scientific and technological discoveries, it can be easy to dismiss the arts as a privilege instead of a right.
Before I launch into how the school can begin to even the playing field when it comes to providing all students adequate opportunities in their fields, it’s important to note a couple things.
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Many donors decide where they want their money to go, and there’s nothing the school can do about it. This of course is not a bad thing. If an alum wants to drop a couple million (lol) on a new gymnasium or program, even if it’s not a pressing need, then so be it. That’s awesome.
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The school has a general donations fund. For all the donors that decide exactly how they want their money spent, there are countless more who donate to the general fund. In addition, the Dare Northward campaign (please don’t ask me what this is because I still have no idea), has created a way for donors to give money to the school without any specific allocation of those funds, and has allowed to school to expand its resources and capabilities immensely.
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Colby College is somewhat of a self-replicating cycle. What I mean by this is our campus is predominantly made up of wealthy white kids from Boston and the surrounding New England areas. Said students attend Colby College, major in Econ, Bio, Government, or STEM, and go on to become lawyers, doctors, bankers, and accountants. The moneymakers. These same students then have kids of their own, send them to the same small liberal arts NESCAC schools (in this case Colby), and are prompted to donate large sums of money to said school. And so the wheel turns. Naturally, we can’t expect every person who graduates from Colby with a degree in art history to shell out $5 million dollars (there’s a reason they’re called “starving artists”), yet this cycle is still worth noting.
Now, given these three things, it’s time to look at ways the college can begin to bridge the gap between the arts and the sciences.
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The college needs to pay more attention to the arts. By showcasing more of the accomplishments from students in the arts fields, more donors will be inspired to allocate their money towards opportunities, programs, and classes that will benefit these students. By simply acknowledging the existence of clubs on campus like the CMI or the Photography club, the school is telling the world that arts matter at Colby and they are not something to be hidden.
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Colby needs a greater diversity in the student body. No, right now I am not talking about racial, ethnic, or financial diversity, though all those would be great as well. If the school began accepting a student body with a greater diversity of interests, then we would have a greater diversity of alumni in the workforce.
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The school could use their general fund for arts related opportunities. This one’s simple and is entirely dependent on the administration. Obviously I am no expert on how funds are allocated and distributed at a collegiate institution, however, it does not take a genius to realize the lack of money being put into even the smallest of arts-related things.
All in all, if Colby truly wants to be the Liberal Arts institution it markets itself as, then there’s work to be done. Especially given the current climate in the country and our extremely polarized government, schools like Colby should be acknowledging their lack of funding, resources, and opportunities for the arts fields, and begin making tangible changes.
It’s time we put the Arts back into Liberal Arts, and make Colby a place where everyone can ~thrive~.