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Ellie Fivas

My first taste of Oxford College of Emory University was, unfortunately, unsavory. Moments after joining the new GroupMe, I was bombarded by links to an editorial published last spring by the Emory Wheel’s Editorial Board.

“‘We’ll just drop you here and forget about you’: Emory’s terrible case of Oxfordism” flashed at the top of my screen, unlocking a whole new set of anxieties about my nearing transition to Oxford. As I later learned, the former Board’s perspective on Oxford and its problems was written by Emory College and Goizueta Business School students who had likely never even been to the Oxford campus, much less had personal experience with its community. This editorial, arguing that Oxford has been seriously neglected, underfunded and ignored by Emory University, resulting in negative experiences for many of its students, is an insufferably narrow perspective on Oxford.

Don’t get me wrong — Oxford has its issues, such as mental health and a lack of strong community — and they should be heard and resolved by the administration. However, what’s at the heart of the outpour of negative Oxford student experiences is not academic inequity, unfair funding nor blatant discrimination from the University. Oxford gives students exactly what it markets: a small liberal arts college education, access to opportunities from Emory University and an emphasis on student leadership and involvement. Problems within Oxford’s community are more easily tracked to suffering mental health resources, lacking club culture and communities and a student body that signed up for a different college experience.

Instead of picking at Oxford’s gen- eral education requirements (GERs), their differences from the Emory College GER plan should be appreciated. Specifically, the editorial criticizes the experiential learning (“E”) and ways of inquiry (“Q”) required credits.

The “E” credit was difficult for the Oxford Class of 2023 to satisfy due to the pandemic lessening options; thus, it was waived for sophomores. Now, as more “E” and “Q” credit opportunities open up, I feel that these requirements are more of a blessing than a curse, providing the chance to learn outside of the classroom and gain more applicable skills to our communities.

The aforementioned editorial compares the experiences of Oxford directly to those of Emory — this comparison is not an apt one. As a small liberal arts college, Oxford provides students with small class sizes, close student-professor relationships and countless opportunities for leadership, internships and research with professors. Furthermore, Oxford totes a beautiful campus and state-of-the-art facilities and dormitories that rival the Atlanta campus’. It’s true, students do not have access to all the classes offered at Emory — but that is simply the nature of going to a smaller college. I do not mean to sound unforgiving, but if you don’t want the small liberal arts experience, then why did you choose Oxford?

From my two semesters at Oxford, I have grown to recognize that the “Oxfordism” editorial was concerned with the wrong things: it compared the academics and atmosphere of a small liberal arts college to that of a medium-sized research university. For one, scheduling an appointment with the Office of Career and Counseling Services is particularly challenging. Due to the office only employing four counselors, their services are always limited, with few chances for students struggling with their mental health to get the help they need. While it is