As a graduating senior, I am happy to be ripped off by Mizzou one last time. Today, the ripoff is the “Grad Pack.”
Basically, Mizzou is forcing me to buy my cap and gown in a bundle package that includes a one-year membership with the Mizzou Alumni Association. Mizzou can wave its arms about how the bundle pack saves money and comes with a free T-shirt, but the reality is students are getting squat savings.
I can get a one-year Mizzou Alumni membership a year out from graduation for $35 by itself. A Mizzou cap and gown by itself in 2009 was about $20. Ironically, the so-hyped “Grad Pack” is $55! Where’s the giant savings? Oh, a “free” T-shirt? But I had to take a medium because they were out of large! And T-shirts cost roughly $8…so being forced to spend $55 to save $8 is not a great deal, but rather just another Mizzou scam to force membership into its alumni association.
A much better option would be to offer a “Grad Pack” and then also offer the cap and gown separately. But there is money to be made and membership quotas to fill, so this idea will likely get politically kicked down.
Shame on you, Mizzou!
— Matthew Angeli,
mjayq5@mail.missouri.edu
