Alex Hoben
Photo editor
alexander.hoben@my.tccd.edu

TCC has a problem with keeping its quality of student life the same across the district, and it can make a student feel cheated if they go to one of the lesser furnished buildings.

Being the photo editor, I have to go to all the campuses for photos of events that will be featured in the paper. Something I’ve noticed is you can tell which have been getting the most money fueled into it over the other locations because it’s usually the place with the prettiest pictures. This stark difference in conditions based on location is unacceptable for a college to have, especially since it’s focused on one spot, TR Campus.

This isn’t fair to the students who will only go to a single campus. Especially if it’s one of the lesser furnished campuses like the oldest, South, or the still under construction NW Campus. They will never even see what they are missing out on.  

I started at SE Campus, so I got used to the layout and amenities. It has a small gym, a small theater and a Subway in the far back of the ballroom — which is also used as the cafeteria. Imagine my surprise when I first visited TR Campus. It was like being transported into an Ikea catalog. 

There are beautiful murals, boardrooms that look like they came right out of the latest business drama and Wi-Fi hotspots on the ceiling. That’s just what you see walking in. I can’t even use the Wi-Fi at NE Campus. It refuses to load anything on any of my devices. The disconnect there, no pun intended, is staggering. 

TR Campus has in-wall microwaves and floor-to-ceiling windows looking out onto the river in the joint study hall and lunchroom. Whereas NW Campus’ lunchroom is a single hallway with dingy floors and ceilings. At TR Campus, there’s an escalator in the main building that leads to the administration offices. At South Campus, I once saw a woman with a broken leg unable to take the only elevator in the SSTU building because it was broken down.

Why should a campus’ available services be so varied? Especially when it’s a badly kept secret among the rest of the locations. If you’ve been to TR Campus but attend classes at another location, all you can do is compare them.

TCC’s education caliber for the price is impressive to me. I’ve acquired skills through my program that I didn’t think was possible. But when you start to see these divergences in the services and quality you have at one campus compared to all the others, you can’t help but wonder if the money is being distributed equally. Did you draw the short end of the stick because you went to the location that was the easiest for you? 

TCC needs to have a standard of available technology and ease of access across all of the campuses, not just furnish one with all it can think of while the others struggle to provide necessary resources for its students and staff.