In the midst of another announcement of tuition increases and grumblings from North Central students, students at Garissa University in Kenya have more than finances to be concerned about.
The nation of Kenya is mourning after a massacre of 147 GUC students at the college. This event has scared many, one student telling the Daily Nation, “I can’t come back here again. It is like risking my life to secure my future. I can’t do that.”
The prospect of a tuition increase seems small by comparison. The debt American college students are drowning in is nothing compared to the violence Kenya just experienced, which was not carried out by a misguided student, but by an organized group of nine people who planned the attack.
As an American college student, it is hard to imagine something non-monetary being the end of college students. A similar death toll was reached last year in December at Peshawar, where 145 people were killed. Although the attacks were not conducted by the Islamic extremist group, the proximity of the attacks is worrisome.
What is particularly disturbing about this attack was that it was carried out in dorm buildings. Some are calling for the university to be permanently closed and turned into a military training facility. Although student debt in America may be an atrocity, it is not worth closing down a campus to combat it. Part of the problem has been the shortage of security forces in Kenya. As an American college student I am glad that is not the case at North Central College.
While college students in America may be questioning fiscal survival, others in Kenya are more concerned about literal survival. In the next few months, I will be keeping Kenya in mind when others complain about college debt if an increase means contributing to important services like Campus Safety, with several call boxes to assist students. Student debt will not haunt you forever. A school shooting very well could.
