AU is one of the most politically active campuses in the county, so I’m going to try to put the problem I have with AU offering to keep the Metro open late for Nats fans in political terms.
American, you are acting like a congressmen who comes to D.C., gets all wrapped up in the culture here and forgets who their constituents are. You are acting like a career politician. The Frank Underwood of universities, who, while not actively making things difficult for its students, really hates having to actually respond to their concerns.
On Sept. 29, The Eagle reported that American University had offered to pay for the Metro to stay open late for Nats fans. Apparently the Metro charges sports teams to keep the trains open if their games run past midnight on weekdays. The Capitals and the Redskins pay up, but the Nats never do. Last year during playoffs they held out until Living Social offered to pay. This year they held out until AU offered to pay.
Here’s the most important detail—AU is as likely to make back the money as Congress is to continue disagreeing on almost everything (still on the political metaphors). According to The Washingtonian, “Metro credits them back $5.36 (double the average fare) for each passenger boarding up to $29,500 per hour. (Metro keeps any balance.) That’s about 5,500 customers, or 11,000 if Metro stays open for two hours.”
The Nats game is likely to bring 9,400 customers to the Metro. So, yeah, money wise, we’re good. But, much like Anthony Weiner, politically not so much.
Students and alumni emphatically did not have good reactions to this news. Students have been complaining loudly in the library, offering suggestions for what else AU could do with the money. They’re tweeting about they “CAN’T BELIEVE” this is what AU is spending their money on. They are writing Facebook statuses, asking what on earth their tuition is going to. They’re taking to the comments section with a vengeance.
AU providing money (that they will make back) so that Nats fans can ride the Metro makes AU look great. Unfortunately, it only makes the school look great to D.C. residents, who are glad the Metro is staying open. In fact, AU’s entire sponsorship of the Nationals, which includes stadium signage and in-game promotions, is a gesture to D.C. residents.
While AU students and alumni overlap with DC residents, they’re not the same group. The main difference, of course, is that one group pays a ridiculous amount of money for rent and the other group pays a ridiculous amount of money in tuition and also probably rent.
The other key difference is that, at the end of the day, even though AU is trying to court Washington, D.C. residents to attend AU through Wonk signs on the Metro and Nats sponsorships, students and alumni are the constituents here. We are the people who voted for you. Metaphorically. By paying all that tuition. But because we voted for you, you really should start valuing our opinion.
And the opinion of the students, judging from Twitter, is that we don’t like you spending money on flashy ads and gestures. Whether you get that money back is irrelevant. AU may be trying to convey that “AU is known for helping people in Washington ‘get to where they want to go’—and now supports Nats fans in post-season play,” as Neil Kerwin said in a press release. But all they are conveying to me is that, once again, it feels like the marketing department of this university does not care what you think once you’ve paid your tuition.
I get that the relationship a university has with their students is complicated. If they did everything we wanted, they’d serve beer in the Terrace Dining Room. And if politicians did everything their constituents wanted we’d have free beer and no taxes. But universities can learn from politicians. Even if it looks nice in the D.C. culture, if your constituents don’t like it, you should listen to them. Or at least pretend to enough to make them feel like you care. I mean, even Frank Underwood can manage that.
sostergaard@theeagleonline.com
Shelby Ostergaard is a junior in the School of Public Affairs.
