At the start of the fall 2023 semester, American International College faced lower-than-expected student enrollment and began implementing budget cuts. While some budget cuts might have a long-term impact for the college, others seem to be attacking students in the short run. These budget cuts have impacted the experience of students on campus; student events on campus have been reduced, staff have been fired, healthy food options have been reduced, and student safety has been sacrificed.

Campus Safety
Prior to the beginning of the fall 2023 semester, officers from Campus Police would sit at the front desk in each dorm building at 6pm and swipe each and every student’s ID. These were known as RHAs. If a student or a guest did not live in the dorm, that officer would enforce the guest policy by noting the guest’s name as well as the student who brought the guest into the building. It may not have been a perfect form of protection, but it was certainly another layer of security. However, at the start of fall semester, that came to an end. This change shifted the dynamic for residents living on campus. Some students saw the elimination of those officers as a good thing while others disagreed, citing that they don’t feel as safe in their dorm rooms.

Dereck Valle, who has been an RA for two years in Magna Hall, felt that his duties increased when the RHAs were eliminated from the dorms. In his first year, he saw the utilization of those officers in the dorm buildings. But when his second year rolled around, AIC removed those officers and thus added pressure on the RAs in his building to take on “twice the stress” of “being the RA and the officer.” Valle brought up several encounters with students he has experienced during his time as an RA; he has intervened in fights, arguments, and blatant violations of the rules. Valle commented on the lack of officers in the building, saying, “The environment last year was a lot safer than it is this year.”

Jemelia Delice, a fourth-year RA and graduate student, had a different experience as an RA when the officers were still in place in the dorm buildings. Delice recalled that while RHAs were posted at the Edgewood Complex, the environment with the students was “a little bit more hostile, because they had to pull out their ID, actually give… their ID to somebody, and they couldn’t get in the building if they didn’t.” Edgewood residents must also swipe their cards to access their dorms and adhere to codes that the building requires residents to follow—extra measures that aren’t required in other dorm buildings.

Needless to say, while Valle and Delice have different experiences in their job duties, they both agree that the Campus Police need to step up their response times when emergencies happen so situations can de-escalate. They also think the college’s security camera system could be improved. Additionally, AIC needs to put student safety at the forefront of every decision made, including budget cuts.

Campus Police did not responded to our attempts to schedule an interview for comment.

Tuition and Room and Board
The budget cuts this year have also impacted students who are already feeling the strain on their wallets from the rising tuition. AIC students are required to live on campus for three years before they are allowed to move off campus. Come fall 2024, the college plans to increase the price of tuition and housing because of budget cuts. Tuition is already expensive for most students who don’t have scholarships or play a sport, so this puts pressure on students financially. Also, making it mandatory for students to live on campus for all their four years before they can find a place does not seem to be fair, especially considering the housing options on campus.

Athletes on campus have been saying that the food is also something that has been affected by students with the budget cuts. Students do not have healthy options for food.

In the Hive, located in the Campus Center, there was a food station called “Mondo” where students could make their own sandwiches that included healthy options. But because of budget cuts, the college cut that out as a station for “meal swipes.” They also cut breakfast from the Hive and moved some of the Hive’s food options to the dining commons, knowing that all students don’t go to the dining commons or wake up that early. It’s the same for the Starbucks near the Hive. They have now decided to shut Starbucks down after 1:00pm which is not fair to the students who have class after 1:00pm and need something while they’re on the go.