As a former alumna, I am very proud of Fairfield’s continued growth. Yet, I believe this decision to renovate the library will have too significant a burden on current and future students. 

With this renovation, Fairfield is forcing students to fight for the limited spots to hide from talkative roommates, meet with nervous group members to practice a presentation and simply have a moment of peace to study. And with the loss of 65,000 books, students will now miss out on a world’s worth of knowledge and the physical form of Fairfield’s commitment to a holistic education. 

I deeply wish for future generations of students to have a better Fairfield University than my friends and I. Yet, I worry that the university’s pursuit of growth is blinding their ability to see that the loss of study spaces and books will severely limit students’ ability to grow into the problem solvers our world desperately needs. I urge administrators to reconsider this decision and work with the Library Committee to ensure Fairfield’s focus on student growth remains at the center of the renovation.