The Tartan

Editorials featured in the Forum section are solely the opinions of their individual authors.

Growing up in Pittsburgh, I didn’t think about Carnegie Mellon all that often. I rarely visited, and I only really learned about the programs offered here after I was admitted. Apparently, when I was eight, I started telling everyone that I was going to go to Carnegie Mellon when I grew up. I’m not sure where that came from, but I didn’t know anything about what Carnegie Mellon was like at the time. I certainly didn’t associate it with other famous schools I knew about, like Yale or NYU.

Now, though, I find that extremely surprising. Carnegie Mellon has been around for over 100 years. Carnegie himself laid the foundation for some of the most important history and underlying structures of Pittsburgh. I spent extra time in middle school history class learning about the Homestead Strike. Almost every library I had ever been in in my whole life was named “Carnegie.”

After going through the application process and having been here for the past few years, I have gained a greater appreciation for how Carnegie Mellon ranks among other schools in the country. I have also met many people who have never heard of our school, and looked at me pretty funny when I told them they could rely on my coding abilities because I learned them here (imagine that!).

What I have come to imagine is that what separates Carnegie Mellon from those more famous Ivy Leagues and colleges is time. While Carnegie Mellon was founded in 1900, Yale was founded in 1701 and NYU in 1831. Even Case Western Reserve University was founded in 1826.

I can’t imagine what those other universities did in those extra 50 to 200 years that helped them get to where they are today, but it seems to have made a difference. Even though Carnegie Mellon has established a name for itself in some disciplines, I think we have yet to become a household staple. 

There are so many things, though, that make me feel like the administration is trying to push us in that direction. I can’t blame them — I would definitely have found it helpful if my colleagues at my last internship understood more about the place I went to school. Sometimes, though, I notice growing pains in small places around campus, and I wonder where we’re headed.

Enrollment has been steadily increasing in the past few years, from 14,799 total students in 2019-2020 to 16,779 students in 2022-2023. In that time, though, very little has physically changed on campus. The number of teaching faculty has increased from 1,183 to 1,237. The number of course sections offered has increased from 1,700 to 1,735. No new first-year housing buildings have been opened. One academic building has been built. 

I think that the misalignment between how many students are enrolled and the resources available for those students is starting to feel larger each year that I’m here. 

Our custodial services are massively understaffed. There are no libraries open 24 hours or food places consistently open late. Students pursuing interests in multiple colleges struggle to schedule courses that only have one section offered only one semester per year. Counseling and Psychological Services cannot meet the need on campus without referring many students to outside therapists. Fun events like Bill Nye’s visit are instantly sold out because we don’t have any rooms on campus that can hold more than 1,000 people besides the outdoor football field. And there is never, ever, anywhere to sit and study in the middle of a weekday.

I also wonder about the pressures that build when we brand ourselves as a university on the rise. Am I responsible for having a great career so that I can reflect the brilliance of Carnegie Mellon? Sometimes I think the answer could be yes. Whereas students at other schools use their university’s reputation to advance their goals, I sometimes feel like Carnegie Mellon and its students are using each other in equal measure. And all the time, tuition increases.

It’s exciting though, and I value the opportunity to be part of a story that’s still being written here. I mostly hope that administrators recognize the need to support the ever-growing student body and encourage individual student growth for its own sake, not because it makes the Carnegie Mellon name more reputable.