Alma Mater Pride.

San Diego State University has a reputation for a lot of things, namely:

And now, I can say that my alma mater also had the largest drug ring (and drug bust) on any campus in the US.

Almost 100 people arrested. 75 of them SDSU students. Seized items include $100,000 worth of marijuana, cocaine, ecstasy, ‘shrooms, meth, and presciprtion pills. Among those arrested was one Michael Montoya — a second year grad student (1 month from graduating) studying, wait for it… Homeland Security. Also had students majoring in criminal justice (caught with 500 grams of cocaine and two guns) who actually asked the officer if this arrest was going to negatively affect his chances at becoming a federal enforecement officer. I just couldn’t make this stuff up if I tried. They even arrested a gang member with close ties to the Mexican drug cartels (obviously, not a student).

Now, my first reaction to all this is two part. 1) Thank God I got into grad school before this went down and 2) it figures.

Don’t get me wrong. I had a great time at SDSU. I loved it. I met a ton of people and a lot of really great professors. When you put almost 40,000 kids in a tiny area in a town that has a pretty bad drug record, this sort of stuff is bound to happen. I can’t count the number of times I was offered Adderall or Ritalin during late-night study sessions. Or the number of times I would go to photograph a sorority event (I was hired — I’m not a freak… they pay me to be there and trust me, it’s not as cool as it sounds) and smelled pot in the bathroom or watched as obviously drugged out girls fell on the dancefloor.  Or the time I went to pick up my notes and walked into a dorm that looked like a forest of marijuana plants. Or the time our o-chem TA detailed the exact steps, temperatures, and quantities of chemicals required to synthesize meth.

Good times. The sad part here is the declining value of an SDSU diploma. Thankfully (or should I say “hopefully”?), the top of my resume will say New York University on it, but I cannot help but to feel bad for the other students there. Despite having a top-tier business program, a faculty capable of taking in more than a billion in grants since 2000, a lively nightlife, and THREE Starbucks on-campus, SDSU is forever going to be stuck as the school with hot girls and great drugs. The worst part is the president of SDSU decided he would be better off thanking the SDPD rather than apologizing to current and graduated students and their families. The administration as a whole needs a complete revamping (and I’m not just saying that because I’m still bitter about the crap I had to go through for a name change or the fact that there was a crazy annoying girl in the room when I took my GRE on-campus). At some point in time, SDSU has to figure out that it’s better for the students, faculty, and community as a whole if they would stop funneling money and attention to their mediocre sports program and instead focus on their administration. While I was there, SDSU received a record number of applicants and also took in a record number of students — and saw a record number of staff cuts. Maybe, just maybe, instead of being a money-making institution more interested in pounding out diplomas, SDSU should be more selective and actually try to hold on to their great professors. After all, you have to REALLY love teaching to stay at SDSU.

The president and board need to think about the direction they are heading in. NYU, here I come.