OPINION: What happened to Stonehill?

By Lauren Rauseo

I thought for a long time about the subject for my final opinion piece at Stonehill. I could’ve written about how I think Sabrina Carpenter changed her entire brand for the worse, or maybe my belief that positive self-talk is the key to success. I could have written about a lot of things, really. I thought long and hard, and then I realized it wouldn’t be authentic if I didn’t share my true opinions about Stonehill and how I have watched it change over the past four years.  

As much as I love this school (and I do), it has really changed. I first applied to Stonehill as an English major because we had one of the top 10 English programs in New England -- this was in 2020. Now, the English program barely exists. We lose teachers every semester and can’t even afford a TA!  

I suppose I wouldn’t be upset about this if I studied accounting, or finance, or any type of business, really. But I don’t. I study English and communications and under the eyes of some of the administration, I guess I’m not as valuable. I almost had a French minor too, but I was two classes short. Allow me to explain.  

My classes never counted after my bike accident. While this was okay because I had time to catch up, two of the classes I was taking abroad would have counted toward my French minor, and I would have finished. After finding out my classes didn’t count, I planned to take my final two French classes at Stonehill in the fall. When I came back, the French program was gone. 

I can’t help but wonder what Stonehill will do when they lose all of their majors to the Business School. What happened to variety? What happened to studying literature and developing critical thinking skills and creativity? English majors can go into law, publishing, marketing, any form of communications, advertising -- anything under the sun, really -- but since we don’t use Microsoft Excel and study finance, our program is nothing? 

Did you know that Drew Darnbrough, senior marketing manager at Google, was an English major who wrote for The Summit at Stonehill? No? I didn’t think so. Humanities majors can do the same things as business majors, so why are we so forgotten? 

The English program can’t afford a TA, but the business program just sent a group of sport management students to the Super Bowl. Do you see the problem with this?  

There were over eleven forced triples in Boland this year. We can send students to the Super Bowl and plan to build a new sports complex, yet we can’t even house our first years? 

One of my favorite English professors recently told me tour guides used to take students into Cushing Martin (the English, Communication, and Arts building). During these tours, professors would sometimes come out, greet potential students, and tell them about their programs. Now, tours don’t go into Cushing Martin at all. They go into the Meehan Business School though! Do you see the pattern? 

The truth is, if we place all our attention on the Business School and business majors, we’ll lose the very essence of what Stonehill used to be. We used to be a liberal arts school. One of the best in New England, may I remind you. 

Overall, Stonehill has made me a better, kinder, stronger, and more intelligent individual. This school and its community have supported me at my highest highs and lowest lows. I love Stonehill, and though I knew this institution wouldn’t stay the same over the course of my four years here, I never could have imagined this.  

When I graduate in a few weeks, I know I will always love my alma mater. I’m just wondering if the class of ’28, ’29, or ‘30 will be able to say the same.