Welcome Back!

Hello and welcome to this semester’s first editorial.
We are all looking forward to the exciting prospects of a new school year. We will meet new people, learn new things, and probably make a few mistakes that we will talk about for years to come.
Another thing we can look forward to this semester is the “new” Father O’Connell Hall which will see its first complete year of use as Catholic University’s new Admissions building. It is a very well designed and pretty building, and if you haven’t been in Father O’Connell Hall yet, take a walk by the building to see what your tuition dollars have paid for.
One thing we will sadly not have this year is a building for the Chemistry Department. Despite having a thriving Chemistry Program here at Catholic University, the old chemistry laboratory, Maloney Hall, has been closed and condemned. Now, an Admissions Department is certainly important for any school, but it’s just as important as the school that the students are being admitted to.
Not only are we missing a chemistry building, but we are experiencing what can charitably be referred to as a bit of a housing crisis. Some of the triples in Flather Hall have been turned into quadruples. The fact that we have that many students is “good” of course, but there needs to be a better solution than cramming four people into a room barely big enough to fit three.
We need admissions to attract students, but we also need to make sure that the students are happy with the school they are admitted to. With Catholic University’s retention rate at near record lows, we need to shift our focus from not only getting more students to come in to the school as freshman, but keeping those freshman until they graduate.
Have a great semester. May your papers be short, your hangovers light, and the curve ever in your favor.