I'm disturbed and annoyed.
Today I got my yearly notice about tickets for the Christmas Festival. For the first time ever (to my knowledge) they are charging for tickets to the Christmas Festival. $30 per ticket, plus a $7 processing fee.
I am disturbed because the Christmas Festival is considered an act of worship (or at least, it always has been up until this point). In past years the tickets were envelopes, and it was sort of encouraged/expected that one would make an offering, though this was not required. What does this say that they are now charging for entrance to a worship service?
I am annoyed because the majority of Christmas Festival attendees are parents of current students or alumni who already give (or have given) copious amounts of money to the college in the form of tuition, room and board, lesson fees, alumni donations, etc. Charging for Christmas Festival on top of this seems tacky.
I am disturbed because St. Olaf tends to produce a lot of people who go on to make mega-bucks as doctors, lawyers, scientists, captains of industry, etc, AND a lot of people who live comfortably but make relatively little by comparison because they have gone into lives of service, through the church, non-profit agencies, volunteer corps, etc. Whereas before alumni or families of current students who are on the lower end of the economic scale could come enjoy the Festival and make a donation within their means, this year the charge for the tickets might be beyond their means - functionally this could alienate people and cut them off from the experience purely based on economic class.
I am annoyed because the music department is the college's pride and joy, it will never be underfunded. And they already bring in plenty of extra outside money by charging for admission to concerts on the choir, band, and orchestra's national tours (and I have no problem with that). So, it just feels kind of greedy, or opportunistic, and a straying from St. Olaf's mission, to start charging for the Christmas Festival. . .not unlike how it felt when they sold WCAL.
But, I realize there may be a fuller story behind this decision (as there was a fuller story behind the WCAL decision), so - I am open to hearing it. World, fellow Oles, if you've got any info or opinion, feel free to share it. Make your case, convince me this is a step forward for the college and not a step away from its underlying values.
Peace,
C
