Jewel it may be, but just how sustainable is it? We might hope as we're whistling that the (assumed) mighty U of M has the influence to keep our campus viable and valuable. And, most importantly, to have the state money keep flowing here! Really it's that last part that deserves accent.
Looks like our graduation speaker will be sort of a heavyweight. The guy has been president of the U but only on an interim basis. I was informed that he could not be considered for the permanent position. Has the new president actually taken over yet? I could look it up I'm sure. But one wonders how "permanent" these people can be.
We had the president here for what seemed like a pretty short tenure, then it was off to Pittsburgh for her. Never again will I go out of my way to pay attention to a new U president. She came here from South Carolina, a school with the sports nickname "Gamecocks." Give them credit, their women's basketball team won the NCAA tournament. They beat the fabled Iowa women.
As is my wont I digress.
We maybe ought to be whistling past the graveyard here in Morris because of what is happening to another state-supported institution. You have to shake your head over this, and that's because every so often we get these sensational headlines about cuts and shrinkage at St. Cloud State University.
So, I'm about to leave for Caribou Coffee this morning, not thinking about what if anything I'll write online today, and here's a news bulletin over the radio. I like listening to KFGO in the morning. So our Fargo friends told us that all hell is breaking loose at St. Cloud State again.
A couple years ago it was a banner headline across the top of Page 1 in our flagship newspaper. Headline with a dreary and disastrous tone for the community located right in middle of state. "Dead center," according to a prof's suggested terminology, offered tongue in cheek. "Dead Center University" he called the hypothetical place which of course was not hypothetical. I had the class at Stewart Hall.
St. Cloud makes sense as a location for a publicly supported institution based on such location, wouldn't you say? I spent time there in my 20s, was fortunate they let me get a degree in 1978. I was a different person then and those were different times. I won't get into how I landed there or what I hoped to accomplish. But take a look at what is now happening once again at dear, beloved "Dead Center University."
Holy cow. The school that couldn't even keep its football program, this after having a fancy new facility built there in 2004, is facing the proverbial scythe. Again. With what long-term outcome?
We all know that our campus in Morris deals with many of the same issues creating headwinds. I have heard this from well-placed people but we could easily surmise it anyway. So what might be the upshot for UMM? We will certainly hear no hints of doomsaying from this Ettinger fellow who will speak here Saturday.
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| Jeff Ettinger |
I then failed to notice any band music as a dramatic backdrop for the festivities. Well, no band either, not even at this four-year school that has a music major. I later hear excuses about this. I'm supposed to just understand, just like someday we'll be made to "understand" that UMM is experiencing indefinite closure. Yes we'd be in league with the Appleton prison.
I smile: remember the strong rumors that were afoot when the Appleton prison was going to serve as this major treatment center for covid? Rumors so strong we might have been inclined to accept it as fact? Well, people were panicking. My mind raced to wonder if a south wind might blow the virus here. Yes, I was assured that would not happen.
I had to go home from a UMM Homecoming concert because - guess what? - I "forgot my mask." Ah, the days of forgetting one's mask. Eventually places like libraries and medical clinics had masks available at the entry at all times. UMM did not do that on the day of the Homecoming concert. I'm prepared to write it off as small potatoes.
Confirmation
I got home from Caribou Coffee this morning and did a news check follow-up on the St. Cloud State news. Sure enough, blaring headlines (again). It really seems like all hell is breaking loose (again). We might be tempted to chuckle some at the redundancy.
For many years, many of us were inclined to chuckle at mention of St. Cloud State for a different reason. It was a party school right up near the top of the list. Homecoming got so out of control with alcohol-drenched behavior, it eventually had to be cancelled. I remember a newspaper columnist being incredulous about this. Problems, maybe, but to outright cancel Homecoming? It just isn't done.
St. Cloud State Homecoming got so out of hand that the state's media began seeking police blotter info right after the event each year. What a reputation to have cultivated for your school. Some people described the raucous observance as "riots," I mean with stuff like lighting dumpsters on fire.
Not funny? We wouldn't think so today. But you must remember, there was a time when social drinking was quite approved. Minnesota lowered the drinking age at the exact time I left high school. Why? The best suggested answer was that if boys could serve in the military and face the prospect of death in places like Vietnam, we'd better allow kids down to the age of 18 full adult rights and privileges.
My reaction would be "why did the U.S. get involved in Vietnam?" I wanted to ask that question when I was in fifth grade. It's tough to fight John Wayne and Merle Haggard. Actually Haggard's song "Okie From Muskogee" was originally written as satire. It was taken seriously! There was a theme of looking down on all the young protesters. Ah, irresponsible kids who don't appreciate the need to "fight for other people's freedom." Well, I wasn't about to sign up to support the ridiculously corrupt government of "South Vietnam."
We lost the war. The main reason we had to get out was that we were killing our own colonels. Charlton Heston was full of sheep-dip.
The football-less St. Cloud State is facing major budget cuts now to programs and faculty to address a budget deficit. New verse to the quite-old song. The school's administrators recommended discontinuing 46 of the university's 136 degree programs! Criminal justice? I remember that being a popular major back in the day.
Economics? That's on the list too.
"Sociology?" Well hooray for that cut. It's about time. Did you ever take "Sociology 101?" I made a comment about that course one day at McDonald's, whereupon someone who I did not know came over and complimented me on it. Our society can move forward without the "sociology major." It really can.
SCSU also proposes cutting 50 of 85 minor degrees. "American Indian studies" is on cut list. I'm surprised they use the term "Indian." The Native American emphasis is quite ensconced at our UMM - free tuition for the Native kids. But I'm not sure for how much longer that would be practicable. I would think the Supreme Court's ruling against affirmative action could have repercussions for the UMM policy.
Unless the policy is based on a treaty agreed to over a peace pipe - just kidding - I would think the policy has an uncertain footing. The late State Senator Charlie Berg of these parts once joked about Natives sending "smoke signals" about something.
SCSU is looking at 57 faculty positions being cut.
I wonder how the UMM faculty is holding up under what I presume to be similar headwinds. Can the legacy strength of the U of M bail us out, keep us viable? Can we start to outpace "Dead Center University?" We'll see.
In the meantime, I'm looking forward to the morning brunch at the dining hall at UMM on Saturday. I'll see about staying for the graduation. Would be nice to hear the "UMM Hymn" from the days when the institution was young and celebrating its role of serving the youth of West Central Minnesota. Somehow the priorities got altered.
Addendum: From an email I sent to a friend this morning:
I read a comment online recently that the state should close Bemidji State, St. Cloud State and U of M-Morris!! The campus could be closed like the Appleton prison which of course was going to be the big covid treatment center. And I was worried if a south wind might bring the virus here!!!!
Let me add: these old buildings on our campus like the two barn structures are supposed to have nostalgic value in connection to the WCSA. Let me just opine that I don't think the WCSA nostalgia counts for anything any more. That small barn with the "barn quilts" is such a small building, probably just used for storage. They could have a nice new steel building instead.
- BW
Addendum #2: Quote in the news this morning: "Let's get together again, honey bunch." Who said it?
- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com
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