The Gatepost Editorial: Read the room on Rams Rewards

By The Gatepost Editorial Board 

Framingham State sits proudly overlooking Route 9, just minutes from one of the state's most important economic and hospitality hubs. 

Recently, the University announced a new rewards program to provide discounts to students, faculty, and staff and promote Framingham State’s presence in the city. 

While this is an exciting opportunity for our community and a way to benefit local businesses, The Gatepost Editorial Board questions who these rewards really benefit. 

The program features 24 businesses including everything from local restaurants to exercise classes to a cleaning service. Designed for students, faculty, and staff, the initiative includes small discounts at each of these businesses that can be claimed by presenting an FSU ID. 

In theory, the Rams Rewards Program is a fantastic initiative that gets Framingham State community members out into the city. However, if the goal is to get students accessible, worthwhile discounts, then initially, the program largely misses the mark. 

Many students at Framingham State work part-time or even full-time jobs in addition to their academic, familial, and for some, extracurricular or athletic obligations. Any money being earned is often not enough for a student’s disposable income. 

Students who work on campus are limited to 20 hours of work per week and are paid biweekly, forcing them to make small paychecks last.  

These students are not able to take a hot yoga class during the week - even with a free introductory class and 25 percent off purchases to follow. They are also not likely to spend $500 on furniture that wouldn’t even be allowed in their dorm rooms just for $200 off the purchase price. 

That’s still $300 most student don’t have.

Yes, the Rams Rewards Program offers modest discounts. However, the program seems to assume students have the time, money, and transportation necessary to take advantage of these rewards. This assumption just doesn’t reflect the lived experience of our student body. 

For a program intended to serve the entire Framingham State population, accessibility cannot simply mean providing a discount. 

While discounts arguably are always good and having them available is beneficial, why develop a program that does not have students at its forefront? 

The discounts on furniture, contractors, and financial consultations are much more suited for faculty and staff. Because only a small number of employees actually live in Framingham, a majority of faculty and staff are less likely to patronize local businesses connected with the Rams Rewards Program. 

Not all students have the capability - or time - to leave campus for goods or services outside of those provided by the University. 

While there is accessible public transportation available in and around MetroWest, suggesting that students - especially new students - should acclimate themselves to a public bus schedule just to grab a $9 coffee is unreasonable. 

For first-year students, this is the first time they are on their own. Therefore, suggesting they use public transportation to navigate a new city by themselves is not realistic. 

In drafting this program, was the route of the RamTram considered? None of these businesses are directly located at RamTram stops. 

The RamTram is the most accessible and - as it is operated by the University - the safest form of public transportation. Establishments at or near drop-off locations should be considered. 

Before charging students with the task of finding their way around Framingham, the University should consider how its own transportation system could connect students with businesses. If there is any money to expand this program, it should go toward supporting the transportation of students to these businesses. Even adding a “Rams Rewards Loop” to the weekly tram schedule would make this program significantly more accessible. 

If the University is unable to provide transportation to these businesses, why not bring the city to us? 

The program attempts to achieve this, welcoming businesses to the campus Dining Commons to highlight the cuisine they offer. 

However, if you aren’t a resident student, you pay for access to the Dining Commons out-of-pocket. So really, this part of the program is only accessible for a fee.  

Instead of closing these businesses off in a place where only some students can access them, the University should create a program which allows businesses to vend on campus and is easily accessible in a high-traffic location. Other ways to bring these businesses to campus would be to host an instructor in the gym’s aerobics room to provide a free class, or hold a small business fair to introduce the campus community to the city. 

Students would be significantly more likely to stop by the Forum and shop from these businesses than to leave campus. Or, for commuter students, pay to enter the Dining Commons just to experience a new cuisine. 

This program also appears to ignore FSU’s location in the city. Almost none of the businesses that are our neighbors just across Route 9 in Framingham Centre are currently a part of the program. 

As the closest businesses to the University, these establishments would likely be the strongest partners and friends to the University. 

Mad Willie’s has become a gathering place for students year-round. Athletic teams have even created a team-building exercise by walking across the Route 9 footbridge to enjoy an ice cream after practice. 

University Pizza - which many students involved in clubs enjoy weekly - has already proven itself as a fierce campus partner. 

In addition to patronizing these restaurants, students are often walking to the 24-hour CVS or the Stop & Shop to grab essentials, including study snacks, personal hygiene products, or makeup. Wouldn’t students appreciate discounts at these locations they can easily walk to rather than the other less accessible options being offered?

The University should collaborate with businesses such as these. They are within walking distance from the University, open and welcoming to college students, and provide good food and essential products at a reasonable price. 

Students don’t always have the opportunity to come down off the hill, but that doesn’t mean we should be excluded from the community we inhabit. 

The City of Framingham is a vibrant and diverse place with so much to offer students. Our community is their community, and we should be a part of it. Someone just needs to connect us. 

In creating this discount program, the University failed to realize the point of the Rams Rewards Program. It isn’t about providing coupons. It’s about introducing two communities that already live harmoniously with one another.