President Hall,

Mercy College is home to nearly 700 students. In one way or another, we came here with dreams of succeeding in our professional endeavors. We’ve looked for ways to improve the school, we’ve matured together, but most of all, we’ve built bonds which will last a lifetime. Though Mercy makes considerable efforts to improve the academic experience, there are a few elements we feel have been drastically overlooked.

Yes, academics are the most crucial aspect to a college’s success, but student life is the heartbeat of the school. We may be learning, but are we having a fun time in doing so? To be transparent, some of Mercy's policies act more as discouragers rather than encouragers. Most of us go home, stay in the city, or find things to do which aren’t affiliated with Mercy whatsoever.

We’ve conversed, we’ve brainstormed, and we’ve agreed that there are 3 courses of action which would drastically improve Mercy’s student life.

1. Extend quiet times for Hudson Hall: When Mercy cuts Hudson Hall off to its residents, other students miss out on the facility’s outstanding study centers. Not to mention, an 8 PM cutoff limits the amount of interaction amongst Hudson and Founders Hall residents. The 8 PM cutoff discourages everything from productive work time to interpersonal bonding. We respectfully ask for an extension to 11 PM.
2. Initiate more weekend events: One major problem Mercy faces is its lack of things to do on campus. Though this is an ongoing challenge, we’d highly encourage the school to look into planning more weekend events. The Business Honors program has done this on a smaller scale with tremendous success. We’d encourage all departments to make weekend events a reality for all students.
3. Improve the food in Main Cafe: The food in Main Cafe is a disaster. When kids pay thousands of dollars to eat on campus, they should be entitled to food which is healthy and tastes good! The salad bar is popular, but the rest of the cafeteria’s menu is underwhelming at best. We wholeheartedly believe it’s time to bring in better food. People enjoy Victory Cafe; Suppliers such as Einstein’s, Maxwell’s, and Blue Moon are thought highly of amongst residents. They, or like suppliers, would be welcomed additions to Main Cafe.

We understand implementing all these ideas may pose a challenge, but we are willing to do anything and everything to improve our college. We also understand the student life department and student government are working tirelessly to resolve these issues; we are grateful for their persistence. Finally, as a student body, we would like to thank you, President Hall, for making efforts to tap into student needs and wants. Moving forward, we kindly ask these recommendations for improvement be taken seriously by the people with influence at Mercy College.

Regards,

Mercy College Student Body