I have heard that the nursing major at St. Olaf is at risk. My response to the news was a drop of the jaw and a “what are they thinking?” To lose the nursing department would bring down the amount of applicants and the overall achievement of the school. That may sound like a rash exaggeration, but when high school students with an attraction to biology or nursing are checking out colleges, they will overlook St. Olaf. This lack of provision leads to my next question: What’s next?

After discovering that the college had lost its communications department, my parents warned me about coming here. They said, “It’s a cycle. It starts with one department, then it’s another and another …” At the time, I didn’t take their fears seriously, but now I’m beginning to wonder what will come next. St. Olaf is already lacking in desired majors, such as a journalism/creative writing major (which is available at other schools).

I am very attached to this school, but is this just the beginning of the degeneration of departments? As far as I’m concerned, I feel uncomfortable attending a school that is now so financially strapped that the education provided is being jeopardized.

Alhough I understand that corners need to be cut in order to continue to offer more populated majors, I remain emphatic that the dropping of the nursing major can only harm the school. Granted, I don’t know the amount of currently enrolled nursing majors or the entire situation of the school’s difficulties, nor do I care for such figures. But I do care about the brevity of the nursing major. I ask the school to reconsider their alternatives, and to keep the nursing program active at this school.

Contributing Writer Hayley Wender is a first year from Sioux City, Iowa. She majors in English.

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