Mercyhurst University — Attraction in Erie

While this school is great, and I love being here... there are many issues with this place that aren't talked about.

One, parking is hell. They sell way more parking passes then there are places to park. And since students are required to live on campus this is a major problem that affects the entire student body, faculty and staff. In the next few years this problem is about to get a lot worse, due to the merge with Northeast coming up.

Two, while the food is often great, especially at the Grotto, most of the options are fried or greasy. It is hard to know what exactly is in the food, and athletes often complain that the options are too limited. If you have diet restrictions or allergies there is only one option for you, the Clean Plate with ZERO variety.

Three, the health care here is horrid. Yes, the health center and counseling center are free for students BUT when you go there, the help is very limited. They provide you with supplements and nasal spray. That's it. And then, theres counseling center. They are great at handling homesickness, minor depression, and generalized anxiety. But they advertise that they also address PTSD, major depression, eating disorders and such. However, when you come to the person who is supposed to counsel you on Title IX matters, they tell you it's your fault.

Also, the campus is extremely inaccessible for physically disabled individuals. The elevators are broken or breaking and there are barely any ramps. They only address two out of the thirteen categories of disability, that being autism and developmentally delayed. In addition to that, when you have a learning disability and are having trouble in classes they suggest you get a tutor and do not enforce adaptive curriculum. There is an ADA violation occurring right now that is not being addressed. Special needs professors have been lobbying for change for a decade and nothing has changed. When you have 504, they provide you with regular resources that the campus already offers, there are no individualized resources for those who require that sort of thing. The campus in general is very ableistic. They do enough to get the label of a special needs inclusive college without actually doing the work.

Four, it advertises that it is extremely diverse. The Student union has all these flags representing all the countries international students are from, but you rarely see them around campus. These individuals are the hardest impacted by the insurance issues we have here, as they are often here on a scholarship and on an athletic team and do not have the funds for full coverage. Mercyhurst is below average in ethnic diversity nation wide. Racial diversity is also below average but real kicker here is 93% of professors are white.

Five, Mercyhurst is advertised as a liberal arts college but the art departments are extremely neglected. The art department is literally one hallway with two classrooms and one office for professors. The art therapy department has one classroom and one office. The dance department has two studios and no trainer. And then, there's the music department. You cannot join the music department if you are physically handicapped because there is no way for you to get downstairs. And every time there is a performance, you have to carry everything up three flights of stairs to the PAC.

Over all, while Mercyhurst is an amazing school that I am proud to attend, it has several major problems that NEED to be addressed. It's amazing at projecting a great image and at doing everything to have good reputation. We have two events every weekend, and public speakers and performers from around the world. The campus is beautiful when you go through the front gates. The curriculum is great for neurotypical students, and discrimination of LGBTQ individuals is almost nonexistent. Money management is also horrible, they spend everything on comforts and for their image rather than...

Avoid the English Department

They will entice you with one hand, and then bat you down with the other. At the end of lessons, they will forfeit all self-esteem and say they, "Really tried..." like saddened defeated mopes. It is pitiful when this happens so often.

All of them teach exactly the same way and blame students for not getting interested. Even if you do work hard and participate, they will treat you like a teachers pet and be reluctant with you, not even caring about the effort or the answers you put forth. They are more concerned with themselves and why it can't be fun for everyone.

There are 3 married couples out of the 8 total faculty in the department, and it makes all of their behaviors just weird. I've often wondered if there is any shred of professionalism about them, or if work is just for personal upheaval and entertainment in their private lives. Nothing gets done about struggling students constructively.

If you are in the department, prepare to be labeled by them. They will know who you are, and who you will be, without even getting to know you first. In a nutshell: Unhelpful, tiring, trifling, hackneyed, botched, and passive aggressive -- All of them. Gossip runs rampant, even new faculty will know you before you can make a first impression on them. It is a maddening department to say the least. It feels like racism, sexism, and duplicity all put together as one being...

They have professors there who preach (while off topic) for making marijuana legal during class time, or faintly mention that they are looking to "buy a bag" for desperate laughs, and sometimes tell stories of how they like(d) to partake.

When a student is struggling with addiction, and the madness caused by this drug, they will do nothing to help them, and overlook it as if it were not a real problem in the first place. They support legalization and because of this, fail as mentors, advisors, and professors.

Seeking marijuana to maintain a sanity with their choice of career path, they are more like perpetual stoner students, whose lifestyle is actually employed here to teach the young adults. Although, they neglect a large part of their responsibility, which they fail to see (being stoners) that not all people can handle such drugs. If the Sisters of Mercy really knew what was going on, they would be ashamed. So much harm in negligence, and other classic behaviors of an addicted, mad teaching body.

I am appalled by what I witnessed in this Private Catholic...