As the saying goes, something that can’t go on forever won’t.
MLive reports:
‘They don’t care about us’: Students hurt, confused by Michigan college’s downsizingKaleigh McClelland enrolled at her dream school last fall, joining the defending national champion softball team at Concordia University Ann Arbor.Now a rising sophomore at third base, the Saline native was part of the Cardinal’s second straight National Christian College Athletic Association championship in May in Kansas City. The hope is the third generation Concordia legacy will see a bigger role on the team next spring enroute to a three-peat.No matter what, next season will be McClelland’s last in red and white. With Concordia University eliminating athletics and downsizing its academic programs, she will certainly transfer after next season.“As a sophomore, you thought you would get four years at the school you dreamed of,” she said, expressing disappointment in the downsizing decision made by the Board of Regents representing both Ann Arbor and the bigger Concordia campus in Mequon, Wisconsin.“It felt like they don’t care about us.”McClelland is one of multiple Ann Arbor students frustrated by the elimination of academic and athletic programs. The fear from them and faculty is that the move is only a step away from an impending full closure.David Smalls, student body president and a rising senior from New York, said he hears from multiple students younger and older that communication from leadership and their motives have been confusing for months.“It’s unfortunate that leadership has been telling us to wait it out, only for it to come to this radical downsizing of the campus,” he said. “They say they’re committed to the long-term success of the Ann Arbor campus, but their actions are demonstrating the exact opposite.”Concordia University Wisconsin and Ann Arbor spokespeople told MLive in a statement that the decision to downsize the Ann Arbor campus came after leaders determined making the campus autonomous was not financially feasible.
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