Isa Abbott, Opinion Editor
Around three years ago, I was sitting in a green rolling chair, to the left of a screen that read The Denisonian. I was so excited to have my first meeting at a college newspaper, as I had been a part of my high school’s for the last two years. I didn’t know what to expect or if I was even planning to write an article at all. I was just excited to meet new people and sign up for a story. Little did I know that my first article in The Denisonian would have been one of the most unforgettable and emotional stories I’ve ever been assigned.
On the spreadsheet to sign up for stories under “news,” there was a story idea for what happened to the Homestead over the summer. Their cats were relocated, none of the animals were properly fed or given water and their chickens had been killed by wild animals early in the summer, with little to no communication on what had happened to their home while they were gone. In addition, someone from Student Life had gone to visit the Homestead that summer and assumed that the students who lived at the Homestead had been neglecting the animals, already jumping to the conclusion that students who lived there were not taking safety precautions seriously, nor the health of the animals. However, this was not true, as the students were not in charge of taking care of the animals during the summer.
Sometime around that year, to my understanding, there was some talk around the Homestead closing. The anonymous students who I had interviewed previously seemed worried and hurt by that idea, as the Homestead was a community that they really valued and enjoyed
They said, “We want people to come out to the events, we want to have that sense of community, and we want to keep growing the Homestead and show that there’s support and interest in it.” To avoid the possibility of the Homestead closing, the Homesteaders suggested at the time that coming to their events and celebrating their community makes it “worth fighting for.”
Now that the Homestead is officially closing soon, I still fail to understand how the administration could possibly think the Homestead is not worth fighting for. In an email sent out last week by our student body vice president, Zacc Greene ‘27, Denison’s reasons for shutting down the Homestead were revealed: the size of the investment, lack of interest among students and concerns with health and safety. By breaking down each point, it becomes clear that shutting down the Homestead is truly a ridiculous idea.
First, the administration suggests that keeping the Homestead open is too much of a long-term investment, including extra staffing, building maintenance and “potential construction of a new building.” In addition, their materials, such as firewood and food for their animals, are too expensive in the school administration’s eyes. The university also does not want to donate their resources and funds to a community of sustainable living if it doesn’t expect the Homestead to sufficiently raise funds.
What I find ironic is that the school doesn’t want to spend money on the Homestead’s construction of a new building, which has not been confirmed as a thing that needs to happen, but will spend a ton of money expanding multiple academic buildings. In addition, there are plans to even build new residential buildings near the IMs. It seems to me like the school is supporting aesthetics and modernity over student life and community.
In addition, food and firewood costs can add up, but those costs are not likely to be excessively expensive to the point where it’s putting us out as a university. Lastly, the Homestead has been a long-term investment since 1977.
Denison’s second point is a lack of interest amongst the student body. They suggested that students over the last few semesters have been increasing their interest in the Homestead only since becoming aware of a possible shutdown, and that previous years showed little interest. Denison also suggested that residents at the Homestead experienced and reported multiple mental health issues tied to depression and loneliness, so expanding the school’s residential buildings is how they plan to help students at the Homestead who feel this way. Finally, Denison argued that it was hard for them to even fill half of the spots to live at the Homestead.
For one, I think the lack of interest in half of the administration’s argument doesn’t really make any sense, considering they mentioned that the interest has actually increased for multiple semesters. Also, it is incredibly insensitive and disrespectful to openly share that students at the Homestead suffer from depression and loneliness. A student’s mental health report is not an open invitation to share with the entire school. Depression and loneliness are caused by multiple things, and the people at the Homestead seem really torn and upset that it’s being shut down. If we shut down a part of their community and home, then we are furthering their isolation.
Additionally, the Homestead has responded on social media to the administration about their false reports of having difficulty getting even half of the Homestead filled. The Homestead is at full capacity, and is even turning some students away when applying for housing.
Also in terms of the safety and health of their animals, there seems to be a history of blaming students for what has happened in the past with their livestock. It is pretty well known that a lot of animals at the Homestead are outdoor animals and there is always the possibility of wild animal attacks. In addition, students in the past were not responsible for the neglect of their animals over the summer when their cats were relocated and their chickens were killed. The Homesteaders have been open about the fact that they currently have people and volunteers caring for the animals over breaks.
In analyzing the administration’s view on why they have decided to shut down the Homestead, I can’t help but also consider: why the Homestead and not Greek life?
Imagine how upset Greek life students would be if they had their sorority or fraternity shut down. Both the Homestead and Greek life at Denison are smaller communities with their own sets of values. Do we just decide to not shut down Greek life communities because they get a lot of attention on the weekends, regardless of the fact that multiple fraternities have been suspended for hazing, and that, to my understanding, they cost a lot of money to maintain and keep running? It seems completely unfair that we shut down the Homestead, and not other communities who have a history of actually being unsafe and expensive. There is not sufficient proof that the Homestead is unsafe, nor that it seems to be putting out our university which has a more than 1 billion dollar endowment.
The university has continued to have little to no communication with the Homestead students themselves, as they have openly communicated publicly on social media that they would love to speak with administration about how to resolve all of their concerns.
The administration, being a much larger power among the student body, seems to be using completely unprovable claims to make the Homestead, a much smaller community, completely vulnerable and unable to do anything to save their home. This is simply unfair. In my view, the Homestead has proved that they deserve to stay open and that they are a community worth fighting for. To Denison’s administration: please save the Homestead.
Isa Abbott ‘28 is a politics and public affairs major from Indianapolis, Indiana.