UW-Whitewater--Scam-It Purple

I had been plugging away on a different post, but my need to vent supersedes my desire to finish what I started.

Yesterday was supposed to be a special day for me. I was not looking forward to the 8-hour day that was scheduled, but saw it as a necessary, though unpleasant, day that would be special for Dej & I.  UW-W requires all students (even transfers who have the whole "college thing" down already) to attend a day long event called "Plan-It Purple" before they can sign up for any classes. When we registered her online, they had the "guest/parent" option (for an additional fee, of course), and she really wanted me to go, so I sucked it up and signed up. Though we weren't very happy with having to go (and pay $68 more to them, because they aren't quite getting enough of our money) and waste a whole day, I thought we would have some fun in the process. I've looked forward to her becoming a Warhawk since I had her. I have had love and loyalty to my alma matter since I was an undergrad there (and I returned for my Master's). Dej attended the on-campus daycare as a toddler.  I was thrilled when she indicated that she would transfer there upon completing her Associate's.  I envisioned a day of mother-daughter bonding, walking around what still feels like "home" to me, sharing that with her.

She has not had a good experience with UWW prior to this. Her acceptance was slowed way up because they didn't notice that they had her transcripts in her file already and were still waiting for them. After several phone calls, they tracked it down and that was cleared up. She has had a few other minor administrative SNAFUs with them, which left her feeling very unfriendly toward them, but I wasn't too worried about that.  Yesterday was enough to change my attitude and wipe out 25 years of affection for that school.

The event was scheduled from 8-4, which definitely does not mesh well with our schedules.  We got up and on the road, and she was feeling very sour about the whole day. I was working very hard to be positive and upbeat, while secretly resenting everything about having to give up a day of productivity for eight hours of wasted time.  The first two sessions were incredibly pointless PowerPoint presentations of UWW marketing, which really puzzled me. These students have already made their decision and will be attending in the fall. Why the hell was our time wasted on peddling their generic marketing materials?!

At 10:45, and for the remainder of the day, the "guest/parent" and the student were split up for the remainder of the day. It's important to note that the website did not remotely indicate anything like this would happen. If it did, why would someone pay extra for a guest to attend with them! I also have to note that all of the online materials used the term "guest/parent", which in retrospect is puzzling, because given the constraints of the day, a parent may tolerate that crap, but a friend would not.  I hope there are no unwitting students who sign up with a spouse or friend, thinking they will be together. That really made both of us angry. She wanted me to go, because she didn't want to be alone for the day. I was attending as a friend, because she's an independent adult, not an 18-year old freshman who is still cared for by their parents.

The sessions available for the "guest/parent" were all applicable only to parents who have dependent children, and many of them only relevant if the student is living on campus. Since Dej is an adult homeowner, none of those sessions applied or offered anything of value at all.  The worthless sessions for "guest/parent" were scheduled only until 1:45.  Her day didn't end until 4:20. There was nothing for the "guest/parent" to do during that time.  My entire day was wasted, and I paid UWW to waste it.

The sessions that she attended were also pointless and did nothing but turn her off to the school as a whole. They broke into mini groups and played insipid games. She was disgusted, as most adults who have better things to do with their time would be.  The ONLY part of her day that provided any value whatsoever was the half-hour meeting she had with her advisor, who helped her pick her classes. This was not her "real" advisor--just a temporary one until the semester starts and the advisors are assigned.  (She came up with the exact same classes that she and I selected after looking over the materials a couple of months ago. When we logged in to register for those classes, we discovered that we couldn't do so until she attended Plan-It Purple.) Obviously, she didn't really need the session with the advisor, but it was nice confirmation that we were on the right track.

We could have saved several hours and lots of money by just scheduling a half-hour appointment with an advisor and then registering for the classes online. That's how I did it when I was a student there, and it worked just fine for all of us, but UWW wouldn't be able to collect copious amounts of money for nothing under that plan.

Then there was lunch. We were allowed to get back together and eat lunch together (how noble of them), and they told us that they had vegan options for us (they offered accommodations for vegetarian or gluten free upon registration; but since there was no vegan option, we specified in the comments), so I was feeling pretty good about that.  When they described the vegan lunch, they said the chef made some roasted veggies and they would be served on field greens.  What they brought us was a small salad--field greens, carrots, tomatoes, onions (which I could smell through the sealed container--GROSS!), and mushrooms, with a packet of high-fructose corn syrup (also called Kraft dressing).  The entire meal, with dressing was about 110 calories. This is not fuel for two adult, fit, active women. This is not tasty or appropriate. This is not a progressive campus, and is clearly not vegan friendly. Those photo was taken with the FULL, untouched container. Notice how little food is actually in there--you can see the bottom in many spots.

Since we had extra time at lunch (we didn't have enough food to eat for very long), we walked to the bookstore, where I was excited to get her some UWW gear. When she was a toddler/child, I dressed her in UWW clothes and was so looking forward to getting her first gear now that she's a Warhawk. She refused. She hates that school so much, she said she will never wear anything with their logo. I was really bummed. It's obviously too late to switch schools now, but I really wish we could. She should love and be proud of her school, and they have deprived her of that.

In one day, UWW showed us that:  1) They have no respect for the time or money of students or their guests/parents.  2) They will do absolutely anything to generate revenue, even wasting the time of thousands of people with pointless, unnecessary, and worthless events.  3) They are not progressive/intelligent enough to recognize that there are vegans in the world, and there's a pretty good chance that their student body and faculty includes them; they will happily take their money but care nothing about their health/well-being.

We received your message UWW, and that's why my younger child will not be spending our money at UWW and also why you can remove me from your alumni lists, because after yesterday, Fuck you! There are many colleges who do respect the time and money of their students, who are also progressive and vegan friendly. That's where we will spend our money.

I do hope while Dej finishes up her degree there, she can find some joy and learn to love her school. College is truly the best time of one's life, and I want her to fully experience that.  I am mourning my lost love. This has been surprisingly hurtful and disappointing to me. I was so angry last night that even my favorite Insanity Asylum workout (Strength!) didn't calm me down. Maybe tonight's workout will do the trick.