Editorial

No waiting

2/7/2010

The recent board decision to construct the new library without state aid is admirable for it demonstrates the university's tremendous commitment of to education despite economic hardship.

After years of denied capital outlay requests and failed letter writing campaigns, construction of the new Mary Idema Pew Library Learning and Information Commons has received the green light, courtesy of the Grand Valley State University Board of Trustees.

On Friday, the board's patience for the state expired and it voted to approve construction of the new library without financial assistance from the state.

The project will use private and university funds, and President Thomas J. Haas assures the university community this latest campus improvement will not force an increase in tuition.

While this decision could not have been easy for the board, in the interest of future generations it was a necessary act.

Year after year, the state has denied the university's capital outlay requests and forced vital projects such as the library to exist only in blueprints and artistic renderings.

Regardless of the government's "commitment" to higher education, history has shown the legislature to cut these areas of spending first when drafting the state budget.

For years, GVSU has received the lowest state appropriations per student of Michigan's 15 public universities -- an amount more than $2,000 below the state average.

It becomes difficult to maintain illusions of state favors when your institution is literally at the bottom of the funding totem poll.

When support for higher education comes to exist only in political rhetoric, institutions of higher education must act in their own interest.

With Friday's decision, the Board of Trustees proved to the university community it was willing to do just that.

As the university approaches its 50th anniversary, the waiting game is over.

The Zumberge Library, though a campus landmark, cannot adequately serve the needs of the university's five-digit population and must be replaced.

Continuing to withhold necessary funding, the state has forced GVSU to act as a private institution. This decision serves as proof of GVSU's readiness to rise to the challenge.

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