(07-17-2018 09:15 AM)Ken Barna Wrote: Dear emdypo,
I would disagree with the fifty years comment. Maybe it was hyperbole. But President Elliot, Sponberg, and a couple of others at the far end of fifty years, did a good job, in my opinion.
Luckeyone is correct with his comment about the Board of Regents having responsibility. Steve is also correct with the funding issue.
Some, if not all of the schools in the MAC are in the same boat. Not to deflect, but because of our record in football over twenty years, any school in the MAC could fit the argument.
I'm breaking my 'last comment' pledge. Never thought I could keep it, anyway.
I'm sure Ken and I being among the older ones here (I'm a baby boomer who watched Ron Johnson play in the late 70s). We realize what great progress EMU made over the decades since we were at EMU.
EMU's growth is NOT a story of failure, bad leadership, etc. The U has made great progress in the last half century. I wish the EMU campus 40 years ago looked half as nice as it does today.
I agree with Ken who agrees with me
I believe the biggest problem has been in Lansing with the problems that the STATE has. The state of Michigan has gone through a lot in the last 10 - 20 years. It is quite understandable that anything or anybody (e.g., colleges and universities, high schools, roads and bridges, mental health, etc. etc.) dependent on state monies will be hurting (unless it is a school like UofM which has endowment and gifts coming out its a*s). I'm very familiar with D.C. government and it is a government which is pretty flush with cash. I see the alpha and omega of 'state' government. Some states are booming and others (like MI) are not.
But then again, there is no comparison between the rust belt and areas like the mid-Atlantic states (e.g., D.C., Md, Va, etc.).
To get back to 2019: The voters will choose a new governor. Each governor has he or her own priorities for taxation and spending.
The citizens of Michigan will decide if they want more dollars spent on higher education, roads, mental health, public safety, etc. etc. or if their emphasis is on taxation.
I'm hoping as I have said before that the new governor will see fit to make a lot of public colleges and universities 'financially whole' again.