On The Edge News

By Alyssa Allemand

At this time, we were supposed to be packed in the Alliant Energy Center, getting ready to walk across the stage and shake Interim President Sister Mary Ellen Gevelinger’s hand as we receive our diplomas. 

I thought I would at least be able to wear my graduation cap and gown today and take some pictures in the yard of my home here in central Illinois. But my attire has yet to arrive.

My mom went through the Edgewood College folder she saved that holds my acceptance letter (which is ripped; I guess I was excited), Honors and Dean’s List certificates, as well as two little a’s I found on the Wingra boardwalk when I first visited campus in June 2016. I took those two little a’s as the ultimate sign that Edgewood College was the place for me. 

We set these items on our dining room table next to the red velvet cake my grandma made for me, cookies decorated like newspapers, and a vase of flowers from my parents.  

During a time like this, it really is the little things getting me through. 

Handfuls of both good and bad days have gone by over my years as an Edgewood student. All throughout, I’ve held onto that special moment on the boardwalk when I stumbled upon the two a’s.  

I am sure that, like me, you’ve all been trying to hold onto whatever it is about Edgewood College you fell in love with at the start. 

Our senior year has not just been about finishing classes and finalizing credits.  

It’s been about remembering the faculty and staff that also served as mentors and have grown to feel like family. It’s been about staying connected to friends and peers, and supporting each other during this time and in our future endeavors.  

It’s been about coping with the fact we experienced all our college lasts without realizing they were lasts.  

I had my last face-to-face classes with my favorite professors without knowing I’d only be able to learn from them on video chats for the remaining few months of Spring 2020.  

I never got to skip one of those classes to go sit on the dock, one last time, when the weather finally started to feel like spring.  

I don’t remember what I ordered my last trip to the Wingra Starbucks.  

All I remember is that one day, I was sitting in the Writing Center, reporting that UW-Madison had decided to end face-to-face class for the rest of the semester. Then I drove home for spring break.  

A week later, I reported the same about Edgewood College. My week-long spring break at home turned into an indefinite amount of time.  

That time has given me several moments to reflect on our years as Edgewood students, particularly this last one.  

Senior year began with a lingering tension from the July Capital Times article about racism on campus. 

Former President Scott Flanagan resigned the week before classes started.  

Within the first month of fall semester, the college announced that they would be cutting academic programs and eliminating positions for faculty and staff. 

In December, a disconnect between students and campus administration was made evident through the Planned Parenthood/TFP protests.  

When we returned in January, there were still questions. We were only on campus for a month and a half before our senior year was uprooted by a global pandemic. 

There’s not much we can do about that. But we can pay tribute to the changes we’ve been through as Edgewood College students—whether that be witnessing campus change or change within ourselves.  

We have watched academic programs and departments suffer. We have seen some of our closest staff and faculty leave the college. Some had a choice, some did not. We have seen enrollment dwindle.  

As a student journalist whose job is to be in tune with things like this, I know what the college is going through. There’s an upcoming academic restructuring deadline. President-elect Andrew Manion starts June 1. There are task forces in place to decide how to most safely transition into Fall 2020.  

Enrollment numbers. Budget numbers. Retention numbers. Student/faculty ratio numbers.  

I get it. 

Because of that, I don’t really know how I feel about how the college has worked around our 2020 graduation ceremony. But I do know that our graduation is not just a celebration of our degrees. It’s about the work we’ve done and the experiences we’ve endured that go beyond the classroom.  

Photos of the empty On The Edge office by Jena Emmert, staff reporter.

Through my work with On The Edge, I have learned what it’s like to put the Edgewood College values in practice. 

There is partnership in our working relationships. There is community in the production, distribution and consumption of our stories. There is compassion when writing and reading those articles. There is justice when reacting to them. And it’s the search for truth that drives it all.  

To Edgewood College—I know our journalism has made some already tense times a bit more stressful. But thank you for such a rewarding experience. It has shown me the unmatched fulfillment that comes from putting your all into something you care about.

To my fellow 2020 graduates—I wish you the best. Some of us are relieved to move on and others have no idea what to do without Edgewood College. This transition would have been a tough one regardless of COVID-19. It is an undeniably scary time.  

If anyone can handle it, it’s us, the Class of Truth. Thank you for teaching me that.  

There are so many stories that make up these past four years. It’s been an honor to write them down.