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NEWS

THE PIONEER LOG

SEPTEMBER 27, 2013

STAFF
Editor-in-Chief Zibby Pillote, Managing Editor Caleb Diehl EDITORIAL News Joey Carmichael, Josh Freeman Opinion Michelle Chernack, Kaiya Gordon Style Source Mary Gates Features Julia Burns, Allie McRaith Arts Katrina Staaf, Guadalupe Triana Sports Lauren Ache, Caitlin Basilio Backdoor Tyler Wayne Patterson Illustration Editor Camille Shumann Photo Editor Hanna Grannis COPY CHIEF Ailee Feber Copy Editors Colin Fuller, Amelia Mulford

Lewis & Clark given mixed rankings

MAGAZINE EVALUATES LCS EFFORTS TO RECRUIT LOW-INCOME STUDENTS
BY TYLER WAYNE PATTERSON
BACKDOOR EDITOR

Washington Monthly recently rated Lewis & Clark as the 21st best liberal arts college in America based on [its] contribution to the public good. The magazine considered three categories in determining the rankings: social mobility, research and service. LC excelled in service, ranking third in community service participation and hours served; in social mobility, however, LC placed 228th.

consists of three parts: cost of attendance, percentage of Federal Pell Grant recipients and predicted graduation rate versus actual graduation rate.

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When you look at other schools that are like us, were in the ballpark, said Dean for Enrollment and Communications Now that we have Lisa Meyer. this data, its going At LC, 20 percent of students to help us to start receive Pell Grants, and the has a 78 percent predicted informing how we College graduation rate compared to a 73 actual graduation rate. [develop] programs percent (Pell Grants help ensure access to for students that post-secondary education for lowand middle-income undergraduate students, according to the are based on Department of Education.) strengths, Garcia However, students looking at these figures might be misled. said. Washington Monthlys list tracks
The publication arrived at its social mobility rankings by considering the colleges efforts to recruit and graduate lowincome students. This calculation liberal arts colleges but provides little context for the diverse set of schools. Many schools on the list serve specific communities or have tuition programs. When you look at other

schools that are like us, were in the ballpark, said Dean for Enrollment and Communications Lisa Meyer. When isolating national liberal arts colleges from the list, Meyers claim has merit. At The University of Puget Sound, a liberal arts college with a similar student body and academic programs in Washington, 21 percent of its students receive Pell Grants and the school has a 75 percent predicted graduation rate compared to 73 percent actual rate. Also, according to a New York Times piece published in July, only five of the 50 most selective private colleges receive more Federal Pell Grants than LC.

This is a college that is dedicated to working with students to find their success, and because that is at the core of our mission, it is something we put our resources towards, said Meyer.

Still, the College acknowledges that theres room for improvement. Assistant Dean for Academic Support and Student Success Maria Anglica Garcia has actively worked to collect data regarding the experiences of students from different communities while at LC. Now that we have this data, its going to help us to start informing how we [develop] programs for new students that are based on strengths, Garcia said. Garcia and Meyer both sit on the Student Success Committee, which meets to create programs that support student needs. The point of the committee, Meyer said, is to do something that is long-term and really addresses the issues and supports our students in the way they need to be supported. She believes the committee can lead to successes because the best ideas come out of solid research and collaborative efforts. Garcia said that she was confident that if we have this conversation at the end of this semester, it will be a little bit different. This is a college that is dedicated to working with students, and because that is at the core of our mission, it is something we put our resources towards, said Meyer.

Future of Divest Coal campaign

BY CALEB DIEHL
MANAGING EDITOR

said, but they provide a good model.

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Divest Coal, a grassroots movement that urges administrators to wipe schools investment portfolios clean of ties to coal companies, exploded in colleges across the nation this summer, but at Lewis & Clark, organizers are still searching for student support. Weve had some trouble getting people to come to the meetings, Coordinator of LC Divest Coal Michaela Koke (16) said. There are so few of us who have time. As LC Divest Coal washes over campus, it rides the wave of a national movement. In a furor that evokes the collegiate push in the 1980s to divest from companies doing business in South Africa under apartheid, students at over 50 colleges, from Swarthmore to Harvard, are clamoring for sustainable endowments. The Harvard Undergraduate Council reported that 72 percent of its student body favors divestment. Gabby Henrie (15), an active member of LC Divest Coal, attended a convention at Portland State University last semester where she noticed liberal arts schools of similar size in the Northwest making substantial progress. Some of the endowments those schools manage pale next to LCs, Koke

They have similar portfolios, Koke said of some of the schools Henrie studied. Other schools have done it.
LC Divest Coal launched in Fall 2012 and quickly secured meetings with top administrators, including President Barry Glassner and Vice President for Business and Finance Carl Vance, who helped the activists decode financial jargon and understand the realities of divestment. The movement shies away from more radical demonstrations like picketing, Koke said, to avoid turning off resistant administrators. So far its working. Im feeling positive about our association with the administration, Koke said. She explained that unlike officials at some other schools, Theyre not just shutting us out. Last spring, Divest Coal designed a logo and drew students to the Forest Hall Co-Op for Musicoal, a night of student bands and songwriters where

organizers mounted the stage to call for action. This year the group plans to bring a speaker to campus and engage the administration in further conversation. Many students still worry that divestment will force tuition to skyrocket, but Koke said her group will not pursue a plan that would raise the rate of tuition increase above what is needed to compensate for inflation. Rethinking the schools portfolio, she added, could actually increase

returns. They have similar portfolios, Koke said of some of the schools Henrie studied. Other schools have done it. Students interested in joining hte campaign should attend the weekly SEED meeting from 4-5 PM in the Tamarack Co-Op

ILLUSTRATION BY CAMILLE SHUMANN