Northeast Liberal Arts College Slammed by Declining Enrollment Due to Pro-Hamas Protests—Media to Blame?

For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. Could we be seeing this staple rule of Newtonian physics being carried out in another instance, that of declining enrollment in certain American liberal arts colleges? And if so, why?

Maybe it's because those colleges coddle young skulls full of mush who spend their time protesting Israel's war against Hamas terrorists.

A Boston liberal arts college admitted that the recent anti-Israel protests on campus have contributed to low enrollment for the upcoming academic year which will necessitate possible staffing cuts.
In an internal message this week, Emerson College president Jay Bernhardt pointed to "multiple factors" prompting a "significant" shortage in the incoming freshman class, including the protests and the press generated by them.
"We want to share with our community that the size of our incoming first-year class for Fall 2024 is significantly below what we had hoped," Bernhardt’s statement declared this week.

While it would be easy - and fun - to point at Emerson College and remind them that what goes around comes around, there may be more to it than this.

GOP Leader Slams Two-Tiered Justice System After Pro-Hamas Destruction Yields Zero Arrests

Here's the onion:

"We attribute this reduction to multiple factors, including national enrollment trends away from smaller private institutions, an enrollment deposit delay in response to the new FAFSA rollout, student protests targeting our yield events and campus tours, and negative press and social media generated from the demonstrations and arrests."

There are a couple of layers to this onion. First, there is that little bit of hand-waving over trends away from smaller private institutions, and there can be little doubt that is in large part due to this:

Bernhardt disclosed that the school would be looking to implement layoffs and budget cuts to account for the lost revenue. Tuition for the 2024-25 school year is listed at $55,200, and room and board costs are more than $20,000.

So, attending this "small private institution" will set a typical student back $75,000 - per year. I remember very well my cost of tuition when I was attending the University of Northern Iowa in the early '80s, and even though the New GI Bill picked up much of the tab for my education, I do remember tuition being only around $750 per semester.

Second, note that the statement mentions the student protests, but get a load of the qualifier: "...and negative press and social media generated from the demonstrations and arrests." So, not so much the protests, but rather, the fact that people had the temerity to report on the useful idiots who were, in effect, protesting in support of Hamas. Frankly, it's somewhat baffling they are getting any new students at all.

And what can you get for $75K a year? Well, Emerson offers undergraduate programs in winning subjects like:

(Majors)

Health and Social Change
Film Art
Media Studies
Comedic Arts (I wonder if anyone at Emerson appreciates the irony of that)
Interdisciplinary Studies (whatever that is)

(Minors)

African American & Africana Studies
Environmental Studies
Health and Society
Comedy Writing and Performance

None of these seem likely to fulfill the main purpose of education, which is to equip young adults with skills that are valuable in the employment marketplace.

Emerson's loss of enrollment isn't surprising. What's surprising is that anyone at all is paying $75K per annum for this horse squeeze. But the fact that, at least, enrollment is dropping may well be a small cause for hope that something might be salvaged from the higher education system.