[OPINION] How has Fredonia changed?

ABBIE MILLER

Editor-in-Chief

When I first stepped onto the grassy landscape of SUNY Fredonia, I didn’t really know what I would be in for. 

Both of my parents attended SUNY Fredonia when they were my age. But despite their tales of drunken nights out and spending hours completing assignments, I remained generally unaware of the inner workings of campus and the surrounding community until my sophomore year.

Now, as I approach the clock tower with my cap and gown, I am proud to say I know a bit about all of the little quirks that allow SUNY Fredonia and the space around it to function. Bestowing my parents with this knowledge has led to even more discoveries, particularly about some of the differences that have occurred between the time of their attendance in the 1990s and the time of mine in the 2020s. 

Talking to Elmer Ploetz, The Leader’s advisor and a faculty member of SUNY Fredonia since the 2000s, has given me an even broader perspective of some of these changes and the lack thereof. 

So, before I turn my tassel from right to left, I wanted to get their outlook on the direction that they believe the campus is going amidst these modifications. 

And I figured there’s no better way to explain it than straight from the source. 

A representative of SUNY Fredonia’s faculty and The Leader’s advisor, Elmer Ploetz: 

Miller: How many years have you been a faculty member at SUNY Fredonia?

Ploetz: Well, that depends on how you count them. I started teaching as an adjunct lecturer in the fall of 2002. I started as a tenured track faculty member in the fall of 2008. 

[For the purposes of our interview, all questions were answered based on Ploetz’s experiences from 2008 onwards.]

Miller: How would you characterize the surrounding Fredonia community at the time you first started teaching here in comparison to now?

Ploetz: I have seen the whole evolution of FredFest. Because it actually used to be a … music-based celebration. They brought in great people … but I think on campus, there is no real consensus of what’s popular or what people want to hear, which is why I think Spectrum stopped doing it because they found they couldn’t please enough people to make it financially feasible to bring [those artists] in.

As far as how it is for students and community members, I don’t think it’s changed that much … The economy has changed a little bit. Some of the things [around the area] have closed … So there’s been a downturn economically … There’s always a somewhat ongoing churn of businesses, bars and restaurants. A few of them stay forever … but a lot of them [have changed over time]. 

Miller: How would you characterize SUNY Fredonia as an institution when you first started teaching here? 

Ploetz: A lot more stable. 

Part of it was I started two months before the 2008 financial crash. And that changed everything for SUNY because the state took away some of the funding they promised the college and they never truly restored it. They put colleges like Fredonia into a financial hole [and] there was no way they could get out of it based on playing within their rules. [But the 2008 financial crash] didn’t really hit [SUNY Fredonia] for a while because we had a president [Dennis Hefner, SUNY Fredonia’s president from 1996-2012] who was a very smart guy financially who actually had reserves put away … The university was able to make up the difference for a few years with its reserves.

Miller: How would you characterize SUNY Fredonia as an institution as of recently?

Ploetz: It’s an institution under stress. And with stress comes anxiety, [and] quite often, anger [and] frustration. I still love the place. I enjoy being here. But it’s not anywhere near as relaxed. It’s not quite the … place that it used to be. Because it seems like every time we get some news from the administration, they’re cutting this or that. They’re cutting majors. They’re cutting minors. They’re telling you they’re dropping Google in favor of Microsoft to save money. They’re cutting Zoom because the contracts are running out and they’re not going to renew [them] … so what I mean is, it’s still a great place [with] a lot of great people … and really smart kids.

Miller: What are some positive changes that you believe have occurred between the time when you first started teaching at Fredonia and now? 

Ploetz: My program[, the communications department,] was able to get a lab before things really crashed, so the computer lab for journalism [was a positive improvement] … [The department’s] been able to start a social media minor and do some interesting things like that. 

I hate to be saying this, but we’ve had to deal so much with just trying to maintain what we’ve got that I don’t think we’ve been able to actually, from my point of view, make improvements. I’m sure [for] people in the sciences, the Science Center is a big improvement … But beyond that, wow, it’s tough to come up with positives because like I said, we’ve been under stress now. I mean, I think it was seven or eight years ago now that we were talking about a vote of no confidence in the previous president, Ginny Horvath [who was president from 2012-2019, and] who is a wonderful person, but was also caught in this crunch of trying to solve problems while not being given the resources to do it. 

Miller: What are some negative changes that you believe have occurred between the time when you first started teaching at Fredonia and now? 

Ploetz: I hate to be negative, but I think the energy level on campus has gone down with the number of people going down.

You can observe it by just checking the parking. It used to be really hard to find a parking spot … that never happens anymore. This sort of is a visible example of how things have changed [and] that there are few[er] people here. And so you run into fewer people walking across campus. 

There are some days when the departmental office area feels like a cemetery. There’s no one there. And I suspect that’s true with a lot of departments. 

It’s a lot easier to get into classes for a lot of students. It used to be [that] the freshman just wouldn’t be able to get into classes. Students couldn’t get in [to certain classes] until their junior [or] senior years and I know because I was advising them. And now, quite often, they get into [these classes] because there’s just not that critical mass. 

It affects everything. 

[Less students affects] the number of events going on [and] the general energy level of the campus. 

I’m sure there are other things that affected [this] too, [like it being] post-COVID. A lot of people are more likely to stay in their rooms than they used to be and there’s social media to keep them in, games to keep them occupied and stuff like that. 

[When I first started teaching here,] I’d walk in to teach [and] people would be on their cell phones … texting each other. And now I walk in [and] they’re scrolling. I actually welcome it when I walk into a class and there’s a whole bunch of people talking because it means they’re interacting with each other. 

I don’t think it’s just Fredonia [that has this problem]. I think it’s a lot of places. People don’t interact or [they aren’t] interacting the way they had to in the past because there was nothing else to do.

I think that the school is shrinking, the resources [are] shrinking … The school doesn’t want to pay for faculty to travel to conferences as much and it just seems like it’s hard to get things done because there’s not money there for anything. 

Miller: Do you believe that there are aspects of SUNY Fredonia that have remained consistent since you first started teaching there? If so, please describe these aspects. 

Ploetz: Yes, I would say that the faculty/student strong relationships, which are, to me, at the core of teaching. It’s been the thing that has stayed the same and the thing that brings me back every year. 

I like getting to know my students … Many of them end up staying in contact … It’s easier to learn when you’ve got strong relationships between students and teachers. 

And I think that is Fredonia’s strength and hopefully that is what will pull [the school] through [these difficult times].

Miller: Based on the changes or lack thereof that have occurred since you first started teaching at SUNY Fredonia, in which direction do you believe the institution is going? Improving? Declining? Neither? And why? 

Ploetz: I don’t feel like [SUNY Fredonia is] moving in a positive direction. 

I think that’s why some of the faculty have signed the petition calling for a vote of no confidence in the president. A lot of us don’t feel it’s moving in the right direction. He [Kolison] keeps on trying to tell us it is, but from our perspective, we don’t see it. I don’t see it. 

I’m hoping that we can eventually get leadership that will value all of the departments and that we can start growing all of the majors and not just view STEM and business as the saviors and ignore everything else.

Miller: If you were a member of SUNY Fredonia’s upper administration, what changes would you propose for the future of the college and/or the surrounding community? Please provide a justification for every change that you propose.

Ploetz: I think the administration actually getting to know the people would be a first step.

Our previous presidents knew everybody, and fairly quickly. They knew all the faculty by name. They knew a lot of the students. They were very visible. 

I think Kolison has been attempting to be more outgoing in that regard, but it’s taking him too long to get there.

But I think probably trying to connect [with the campus and community would be an improvement]. 

I mean, the current administration is talking this game, and previous ones I have too, but I think actually connecting the community with the college would be a good first step. 

One of the things we can’t forget is that Fredonia is also caught in the national political [landscape], and you have a lot of people from the surrounding community who are Trump supporters. You have people on the campus that overwhelmingly aren’t and that tension is there … It would be great if the university could actually be part of healing that rift, although in the current political climate, I don’t know if that’s even possible. 

I do recognize that the administration is … caught in the middle. 

And to be honest, I don’t know what Kolison’s financial situation is … But when he was forced to cut those majors, I think if he could afford to do it, the right thing would’ve been to resign in protest. I mean, he makes $275,000 or $325,000 a year. Hopefully, he’s got a little bit saved up. And instead, he copped out to the SUNY administration. And basically, he made it clear that he works for them, not for us. 

And with the cuts … I recognize that perhaps cuts were required, but there was no justification for them and no explanation of how they would ever save money. There was no transparency. That was my objection to the cuts and that’s why I don’t think they were handled well.

Miller: Is there anything else you’d like to add?

Ploetz: Well, I think in a lot of ways the core has stayed consistent and hopefully eternal. 

Administrators come and go. Professors come and go, we just take longer. 

And hopefully things will turn back around. 

I fear a little bit that some of the worst might still be ahead of us. 

If you think back to 2008, that was when the big financial crash happened. When financial crashes happen, people … stop having kids because they’re worried about being able to support them. 

So if we think the numbers are bad now, the overall number of available students in another year or two is going to be even worse. 

But I think Fredonia is a key enough part of the Chautauqua County economy that the people and the legislature would not let it close. 

Hopefully, they don’t do stuff that’s too destructive and eventually things start to move back to the better. 

A representative of SUNY Fredonia’s alumna and my mom, Melissa Wadsworth-Miller: 

Miller: For what years did you go to SUNY Fredonia? 

Wadsworth-Miller: 1991 through 1994

Miller: How would you describe your experience at Fredonia? 

Wadsworth-Miller: Wonderful. I made a lot of friends. I got the help that I needed when I needed it from the majority of professors who were there. It was a wonderful time for me to meet up with people. 

Miller: How would you characterize the surrounding Fredonia community during the time when you went there? 

Wadsworth-Miller: Quaint. 

Miller: How would you characterize the surrounding Fredonia community as of recent? 

Wadsworth-Miller: Angry. 

Miller: How would you characterize SUNY Fredonia as an institution during the time when you went there? 

Wadsworth-Miller: Very practical. They taught me things that I knew I would need to use. 

Miller: How would you characterize SUNY Fredonia as an institution as of recent?

Wadsworth-Miller: I’m disappointed with their lack of effort in fixing the recurring water situation on campus. I don’t know why they haven’t fixed it yet when it’s been going on for four years. 

Miller: What are some positive changes that you believe have occurred between the time when you attended Fredonia and now? 

Wadsworth-Miller: They redid the library. They redid the science building. They built more housing for upperclassmen, which is a plus. 

Miller: What are some negative changes that you believe have occurred between the time when you attended Fredonia and now? 

Wadsworth-Miller: Cancelling FredFest for the students. [And] the meal plan is too expensive for what you get, and many of the kids are struggling to get quality food. That’s a huge issue. 

Miller: Do you believe that there are aspects of SUNY Fredonia that have remained consistent since your attendance? If so, please describe these aspects. 

Wadsworth-Miller: The beautiful campus. The campus is even prettier than it was when I went there. 

Miller: Based on the changes or lack thereof that have occurred since your attendance at SUNY Fredonia, in which direction do you believe the institution is going? Improving? Declining? Neither? And why? 

Wadsworth-Miller: Declining. And it’s because they’re cutting programs. And as a former teacher, I can tell by the selections that they’re making and the choices and what they’re doing, they’re not doing it necessarily with the students in mind. And it’s only going to hurt the students in the long run. 

Miller: If you were a member of SUNY Fredonia’s administration, what changes would you propose for the future of the college and/or the surrounding community? Please provide a justification for every change that you propose.

Wadsworth-Miller: One thing that’s very important is, for every time the water goes off on that campus, for whatever reason, all the students get a refund for however many days the water is off … I don’t care where you get the money, but you need to give some money to the students. 

I would reinstate the FredFest format for the school back to the way they had formatted it in 1994 [where] there’s a police officer at the main gate, [a beer tent where you have to show your ID to get in], there’s guards [so] you aren’t going out with a beer, [and] you have things like the bounce house and karaoke, you know, fun stuff. That’s what I want to see come back.