When I write articles and consider social policy, I write as a democratic socialist and fulfill the spirit of the 1956 Hungarian revolutionaries. I strongly believe in a politics of abundance, where people give the world’s gifts to as many people as possible and humans use our ingenuity to create a better world for as many people as possible.

I discuss my politics to set up this article’s thesis: Northwestern should set a goal of increasing undergraduate enrollment to 20,000 students, and the University should fulfill this goal within the next two decades. I admit this goal is ambitious, but worthy of a top 10 university.

NU should add 12,000 undergraduates for three main reasons. First, I love being a NU student, and I love the benefits NU offers me, so I want the same benefits extended to as many people as possible. I love the campus areas I call home, from my residential college to the Multicultural Greek Council, and I want to invite as many people as possible into these homes. 

My second reason for dramatically increasing undergraduate enrollment is to bolster NU’s role as Evanston’s premier job creator. A 2006 study from the firm Bay Area Economics stated that NU generates more than $145 million in revenues as part of the Evanston economy every year. Part of that money is generated from NU students, faculty and employees who spend money at Evanston businesses and help the city’s small business traditions thrive. Also, according to a 2015 State of Illinois report, NU employs 9,471 people across all sectors. 

I understand some readers may be skeptical that an increase in student population would improve the local economy. NU does not have to pay Illinois property taxes as a result of the Big Ten Conference Inc. v. Department of Revenue case. I have agreed with this concern since I was a freshman, because paying property taxes would help Evanston far more than it hurts NU. The Illinois General Assembly should pass a bill ending this property tax exemption for private universities, and Gov. J.B. Pritzker should mark his signature on this core effort for economic equality.

Finally, my third reason is for NU to create a diverse, meritocratic university that represents America’s future. Under University President Morton Schapiro, NU’s student population has become far more diverse, both ethnically and economically. I write today as a tribute to these efforts: I’m a middle-class, first-generation college student who receives financial aid numbering about 90% of sticker price tuition. 

I want more NU students from hard-working families to enroll in the University, regardless of income. To help even the playing field, NU should also eliminate offering admissions benefits to legacy students, like removing the application part where NU asks if you have any alumni as family members. Those policies empower affluent families instead of the working class. 

To create a stronger bond with Evanston, NU should expand the Good Neighbor Racial Equity Fund, Great University scholarship and bring in Texas’s “Top 10% Rule” program to Evanston Township High School and the scholarship-covered Chicago high schools. Texas House Bill 588 allowed the top 10% of all graduating high school classes automatic acceptance into all state-funded universities. While then-Texas Gov. George W. Bush and his Texas legislature created this concept as an alternative to then-banned affirmative action practices, I think the idea has promise as a purely meritocratic measure. In addition, based on my knowledge of school demographics, I suspect that accepting the top 10% of ETHS and Chicago high schools will produce an ethnically and economically diverse cohort.

With all of that said, I will acknowledge the logistical difficulties increasing the student population could present. First of all, NU would have to purchase nearby land, mainly north to Central Street, west to Ridge Avenue and south to Davis Street to support the expansion. With the land acquired, NU would need to spend the capital from funding sources such as its endowment to develop new dormitories, classrooms and other essentials. This development takes a lot of time and commitment from the University, and is much easier said than done. Alternatively, NU could reuse existing buildings on campus, like the Donald P. Jacobs Center, to facilitate the development.

In whichever form an undergraduate expansion could take, I remain convinced this action would greatly benefit the University and surrounding communities. More students get to enjoy the gifts of being a NU student, while Evanston and Chicago benefit from their presence economically and culturally. I come to this idea via my love for other people and my desire to share what I have given to the broader world. Whether you share my values, I hope you understand this argument.

Sterling Ortiz is a SESP fourth-year. You can contact him at [email protected]. If you would like to respond publicly to this op-ed, send a Letter to the Editor to [email protected]. The views expressed in this piece do not necessarily reflect the views of all staff members of The Daily Northwestern.