I thought college was supposed to be the bastion of fairness and equality in today’s world. After all, college represents a free-spirited society where students can learn how to think for themselves and not have to worry about conforming to someone else’s way of life, as long as they act reasonably.

My experience so far would suggest that I may be here for a quality education, but it seems that I am also here so the college can make money off of me. No? Don’t think so?

Well, how about one instance of a 21-meals per week program for freshmen and sophomores? I highly doubt we could have graduated from high school without having acquired the ability to take care of feeding ourselves. Someone responsible for making college policy does not agree. They think it is beneficial to us to allow consumption of these meal credits at certain times during the day, and it would be an unspeakable offense to try to skip lunch and have dinner and a light meal later in the evening. Even though we paid for these meals, we are prohibited from consuming them when it best fits into our schedule.

Someone from the Residential Programs Office said that a full array of meals is beneficial to students and studies show that this policy will produce higher GPAs than a college without this policy. Yet a similar study also shows that when an institution has its hands in someone else’s pocket, helping itself to money that it is not entitled to, the institution tends to be reluctant to stop. The College has granted very few exceptions in the past four years. The current meal system does not benefit students. Who exactly does it benefit?

The Safety and Security office has all the makings of a small town police department. It even has a desk where someone can sit as “dispatcher” to monitor and direct security officers on campus grounds. Security officers are also empowered to levy hefty fines for parking violations. Now we all make mistakes, and I’d expect the small town police department to be unwilling to overlook the first mistake someone makes with a parking violation. But I would expect a college security office to at least forgive the first time someone makes a mistake.

Not here. Students are slapped with a $25 fine (not a warning0, and sometimes, if the violation is uncorrected, a second fine is issued without even notifying the owner of the first fine. I thought we embraced the idea of not being punished for the same offense twice. I guess not, at least not when it brings in fine money for the college. If a student makes an appeal of his or her fine, the appeal is denied by a committee headed by the director of Security. That is like empowering the same police officer who issued your fine to decide your appeal as well. But that doesn’t seem to bother anyone as long as the money keeps rolling in.

College policy also allows for the business office to add a %500 late fee to any student who has an outstanding balance. If a student has an outstanding balance, it should be an indication of an inability to make a payment. For instance, if a student can’t come up with $2,000 to pay the semester bill, is the student any more able to pay $2,500 with the addition of a late fee?

I think the professors here genuinely care about their students’ success. They are willing to help a student who has trouble understanding class material, and work with him or her if a problems comes up during the semester. The unwillingness of certain administrative offices to be as willing to be helpful gives the appearance of college being nothing more than a very lucrative business.

This article originally appeared in the Franklin & Marshall College Reporter.