Students Unsure About DSU Takeover

By: Justin Blunt, Damani Eason, Khi’Asiah Holland, Sara Sanchez-Contreras, and Tori Albanese; The Whetstone 

Freshman Keren Garcia-Aguilar was prepared to get her degree in Nursing at Wesley College without too many hurdles.

That has since changed.

Delaware State University will be taking over Wesley College July 1, leaving students’ academic careers uncertain.

“The acquisition has left everyone stressed, especially the nursing students who were unsure about clinicals and the curriculum.” Garcia-Aguilar said. “The DSU acquisition has put a strain on my health. I’m worried I will not get the best education.”

This sense of fear and uneasiness about the DSU acquisition seems to be felt throughout the Wesley College student body.

Freshman Michelle Campos said students face a lot of obstacles and feel stressed about what their next step is.

“With the DIII sports canceling, scholarships being lost, and with having to find either a different college to transfer to or figuring out if you can afford going to DSU – this is a big process and decision for everyone these couple months,” she said.

The acquisition is derailing some students’ majors and credits, leaving students to make the difficult decision of having to possibly pick a new major.

Sophomore Asia Holden, a nursing major, said she has to change her major.

“I contacted DSU about my nursing major, and because I completed the TEAS test three times, I have to pick a whole new major and start over,” she said.

The TEAS, or Test of Essential Academic Skills, is required by many nursing programs, including Wesley and DSU. However, Holden said DSU policy states the test may only be taken twice by a student.

Another factor many students stressed was the lack of information given them from Wesley College administration.

Senior Connor George is graduating this spring and is relieved to be leaving college.

“I feel like the school wasn’t transparent enough with the other students about the future,” he said. “They should have addressed it sooner and gave the students the opportunity to transfer out. The whole situation was handled poorly, and many others are also upset.”

Some students said they are just trying to cope with the fact that their dream college is now closing.

Sophomore Adele Russo said she considered Wesley College her home and was taken aback with its closing.

“Hearing about the DSU takeover was heart-breaking,” she said, “Wesley became a home for me and now having to say goodbye is difficult.”

Some students said they think the DSU administration does not care about them, either, and they have decided to go to DSU because they only have a few more credits to complete.

Junior Justice Tilley said she is not overly excited about finishing her degree at DSU.

“I feel like DSU does not care about us, there’s a lack of communication,” she said.

Not only are students stressed about their credits and majors not transferring, some said they are facing the fear of not being able to build a close-knit relationship with their professors as they have at Wesley.

Junior Jaylah Hartsfield said she was able to be transparent with her professors here and is not sure if she will have that same relationship with professors at DSU.

“I am unsure how possible that would be on a larger campus.” she said.

Student athletes said the take-over will affect their athletic careers.

Sophomore football player Deshawn Wiggins said he wasn’t sure how he was going to continue his football career.

“I’m not really happy about the acquisition,” he said. “It is going to take away from my football career at Wesley College. This is forcing me to find a place to go on such a last minute.”

Junior football player John Monk said he was upset hearing about the acquisition and said the the school did not give the student body enough information.

“I’m upset because if I wanted to go to Delaware State University, I would have gone the beginning of my freshman year,” Monk said.

Other students said the DSU take-over may have a positive impact on students.

Junior Jameel Dill said he plans to attend DSU in the fall. Although he was disappointed at first, he now sees it as an opportunity.

“In the beginning, I was upset and very disappointed,” he said. “But now I look at it as an opportunity to start over. We will have access to more opportunities at a much larger campus and we will be able to graduate from an HBCU.”

Sophomore Jordan Spagnolo said he had hoped Wesley would survive as a branch campus of DSU.

“If I wanted to go to DSU, I would have gone there in the very beginning,” he said.

Senior Connor George perhaps said what is on every student’s mind.

“It feels like the end of an era,” he said.