Didn’t Baker attend this college?
Did they pay the ransom? That would make it even worse.
Weird. I had a friend who went there back in the seventies. I was unaware that it was historically Black. I didn’t see anything about that in a quick skim of the college’s Wikipedia page. Are we sure they didn’t mix it up with Lincoln University in Pennsylvania?
The enrolled student population at Lincoln College is 41.8% White, 41.3% Black or African American, 6.44% Hispanic or Latino, 3.92% Two or More Races, 0.704% Asian, 0.402% American Indian or Alaska Native, and 0.201% Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islanders. This includes both full-time and part-time students as well as graduate and undergraduates. By comparison, enrollment for all Baccalaureate/Associates Colleges is 44.2% White, 26% Hispanic or Latino, and 13.5% Black or African American.
Based on @PastTense’s link, it looks like it has a large number of Black students, though it’s not one of the Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs).
This is where I have been working for the last seven years. So as of now, I am out of a job, have been saying goodbye to co-workers, and am mourning the loss of an institution that I was proud to be a part of.
Right: not “historically Black.” The student body in recent years has been about half Black and half white (with lesser numbers of Other).
The article linked to in the OP possibly overemphasizes the role of the cyberattack. Here’s an article from a few weeks ago that, I think, better explains what the college was facing:
Well, that sucks.
I live in the region. There’s been chatter about the college being on the brink for quite some time.
Do you have a link that isn’t paywalled?
These are tough times for all small, non-elite colleges, at least in this part of the country.
Hm, the link I posted from the Chicago Tribune wasn’t paywalled for me. I’m not a subscriber, but I did have Adblock turned off for that site (though it looks like they’d let me "continue without disabling).
Iowa Wesleyan College in Mt. Pleasant, Iowa almost closed a few years ago. Very aggressive fundraising saved it, at least for now.
I am sorry to read this. I hope you are able to pick up something quickly.
Terrible for the employees and students. But I like that ransom asshats lose, too.
I don’t think it’s just a problem for schools in that part of the country. It costs a lot of money to operate even a small school (building maintenance, groundskeeping, heating, cooling, IT infrastructure, etc). And of course there’s all of the salaries. I read someplace that the number of colleges and universities in America is expected to contract quite a bit in the next couple of decades.
That is a real shame. We need an educated population now more than ever.
A major problem is that the students have the alternative of a public university where the tuition and fees are a lot cheaper (and government financial aid programs only make up part of the difference).
Oh, I expect people will still attend college, just at larger schools that have the economy of scale to operate more efficiently. It’s the small boutique schools that are going to disappear while the giant ones (particularly the flagship state universities) grow.
It’s doubtful larger schools have economy of scale: they are notorious for having massive, highly paid bureaucracies.
What I could do with Musk’s money!
I’m so sorry to read this, Thudlow. I hope that you’re able to find another job quickly.