Culver-Stockton College(Why does it lose students?)

So I know I haven't posted anything in a while. And it was bothering me. But now that I actually have a little bit more time on my hands because shows are done at Six Flags, I can get back to writing. This post is going to be about why Culver-Stockton loses a lot of students. The retention rates at Culver are not very good. And I believe there are definitely a few options when it comes to fixing this problem. I will divulge into some of these. But there is one solution that I think could help this college extremely. And I know this will make many people mad. But this blog is for my beliefs, not yours.

So everyone knows that Culver Stockton's Athletics are not the greatest. And thats fine. I have many friends in the Athletic department and I am NOT trying to put them down by any means. But the problem is that athletes come here expecting to do great things, (and why not?). But what they have to realize is that it takes a long time to rebuild. This holds true to not only sports teams but for any organization looking to restructure. You can't just add a few new "players" or push a button and expect things to just happen. So when athletes come here and are mad that they only win one game, (which for football was the first win since 07.) So the athletes need to be smarter about their choices when almost half of the freshman team is leaving due to reasons like previously stated. In all honesty, I don't think Culver-Stockton should have a football team. If you were to take out Football, retention rates would be much more positive for freshman, and a lot of money would not be wasted. I agree, football gives people the chance for the college experience with scholarships and such. So do many other fields. And you are not going to play professional football, statistically speaking, so find out what you are actually going to do in life! The money being wasted on our football team needs to be saved or put into another department, whether that be English, Science, Business, Fine Arts, or Math. There were a few colleges where I was looking that didn't have a football team. One example of this was Drury University in Springfield, Missouri. They did not have a football team, and for good reason I believe. This gave the opportunity to have more money available for scholarships in other programs or fields of study. Drury's campus is a bit larger than Culver's, but Drury was smart enough to say, "We have very few students as it is, Why have our retention rates go down when athletes see that our sports teams can't do very good against school over ten times our size like Lindenwood. Lindenwood beat Culver Stockton 90-19. Yes, Lindenwood let the score get out of hand, but why not? It was their homecoming and they were playing a school of less than one thousand people. Schools like Lindenwood should be able to have football teams. Culver-Stockton should not. And this is something relatively minor in my mind that could help.

Another thing, is the campus housing. The dorms are either very nice, or not at all. I live in Shannon Hall, which is one of the two Freshman dorms. The dorms over in Wood Hall are much nicer in my opinion. And of course that is the dorm recommended to show on tours, (I am a tour guide.) Wood Hall also has carpeting and air conditioning. Yes, Air Conditioning. I find it odd that a school where the overall cost is a little less than 30 grand, that there are any buildings that do not have air conditioning. There are two off of the top of my head that I know do not have air conditioning, Shannon Hall, and Tau Kappa Epsilon's house. Once people get here, they hear about, and see, how great other people's dorms are in other places. I agree, that you shouldn't be in your dorm that much to begin with, but it would be nice to have more than two plugins in a room for two people. And it would be nice to not have to turn EVERYTHING off in the room to microwave some popcorn or anything. In Shannon, you have to be careful with what you have on at the same time. I have to unplug my refrigerator to microwave anything. It is just some minor things that eventually get to people. Hint to incoming freshman anywhere: ask to see the worst possible place you could be staying if you went to that school.

And now it comes to what I believe is the most essential reason why Culver is losing students. And this is also where I may lose a few acquaintanceships and followers, but it is things like this why I have a blog in the first place. Culver Stockton is a religiously affiliated college. Culver Stockton is affiliated with The Disciples of Christ church. And through this church come a lot of funds for our school. Now, you do not have to be a Disciples of Christ member to be enrolled in the college, which is a good thing, because I am not a member. I am a Christian, as many of you probably already know. I was raised mostly Methodist and have gone to a lot of Non-denominational Christian Churches and even Baptist. I read and live by the Bible and Jesus Christ my Savior and I show no shame in saying that. But going back to my point, I am involved in two religious organizations on campus, this includes DOC which is Disciples on Campus. DOC does some bible studies and some outreach programs in the meantime. And the other organization is CIA which is Christians In Action. This is much like DOC except the main goal in CIA is to come together as a body of believers in Christ. It is to create a community of friends who share similar beliefs. And in these organizations, this is what grinds my gears, there are a total of roughly 20 people involved in both of these organizations, combined. Loosely affiliated and no longer affiliated are two different things. And just because the sign on the front of campus says CULVER-STOCKTON COLLEGE: DISCIPLES OF CHRIST, doesn't mean anything. It is what we do with those words that affiliate us. And if a total of 20 people are in both religious organizations, then something is wrong. As I said earlier, some of our funds come from the DOC church. And if I were in charge of those funds and came to visit Culver-Stockton and saw that this small number of students are actually doing something with the affiliation and with Christ, then I would take away the funding until something was done. After doing the math, the two main religious organizations on campus make up 2.2% of our student body. That is ridiculous. I think Culver Stockton needs a fresh sweep, a clean slate, and a new start. They really need to look at who they are bringing to this Campus, and if that means that the numbers go down, then they go down, they can't get much lower. But I believe that if this Campus turns back to God as their rock instead of Athletics and Finances, then the rest will come after. "Through God, All things are possible"- Matthew 19:26. Culver needs to get back to their "roots." I believe they, we, have strayed from what this college is supposed to be, a Christian College. I have grown closer to Christ and God since coming to Culver, but I am luckily one of the 2.2 %. If God is our Rock, the hard times will soon be past and things like Finances and Athletics will thrive in due time. It's time to make a change at Culver-Stockton. And I am ready to lead it if need be. And this does not mean lets sign a petition and revamp this college, this means I am looking for a large group of people looking to do good things with this campus and redefine what Culver Stockton College is. And I believe this is something that CIA can be. Culver Stockton needs a change, and I believe that we can do it!

Note: CIA meets Mondays at 9 p.m. in the PAC in the Chapel. DOC meets Mondays at 6 p.m. in Johnson 112.





Culver is full of great people who are going to do great things in life, no doubt. And Culver Stockton is a great College full of great opportunities. I have made friends for life that are outside of that 2.2%. And that will always be.