Editor's Note: This is the first in a series of columns that will appear throughout the summer. The Daily Egyptian has invited campus and city leaders to share their vision for SIUC.
Southern Illinois Normal, as it was formerly known, began as a teachers training university more than 130 years ago. With the vision and leadership of Dr. Delyte Morris, SIU is now a University known worldwide, offering many diverse degrees.
The growth that occurred during this time was a blessing to SIU, the city and Southern Illinois as a whole. SIU was known as an aggressive, well-disciplined school committed to education. SIU had a positive relationship with the surrounding community, and people felt proud being a part of SIU.
Many things changed for the University in the late 1960s when the United States was involved in the Vietnam War. Protest to U.S. involvement erupted on college campuses all over the country, and SIUC was no stranger to the protesting. Protests and riots broke out all over the campus, and many buildings were severely damaged. SIUC and the community received negative publicity all over the nation due to the rioting. This negative publicity damaged the relationship between SIUC and the surrounding community.
In the recent past, there have been incidents that have negatively impacted the University. There has been the party-school image, Halloween, trouble between the faculty union, the administration and the Board of Trustees on contract negotiations and the fight with a former chancellor. Each has negatively impacted the University. My fear is that these types of events only hurt our ability to keep a positive public image, in turn causing our recruiting of new students to fall short of our vision for the future.
Despite the setbacks of years past, SIU has grown into a diverse institution of higher learning. SIU now has five unique campuses located in Carbondale, Edwardsville, Springfield, Alton and Niigata, Japan. The University has received the Carnegie Doctoral Research University extensive rating, which is received by fewer than 4 percent of the universities in the country. As almost everyone knows, our men's basketball team, the Salukis, made it to the Sweet Sixteen in the NCAA tournament. SIU has many first-rate faculty and staff members. These types of things are attractive to parents, students and faculty who may wish to come to SIU.
As your state legislator, I know it is my responsibility to work closely with the board, administration, faculty, students, alumni and community. I must argue in Springfield on the University's behalf to secure enough state dollars for the University to continue offering an affordable quality education. I must also introduce legislation that is beneficial to the University and block legislation that may be harmful to the University. On occasion, I must try to mediate relations between different groups at the University.
I believe the future of SIU is bright. I am optimistic about the current leadership and have faith in the faculty and staff. I ask that we all work together to continue providing a respectable University that strives to offer the best education possible. I promise to do my part in the state legislature and ask that you do yours as a student, faculty member, staff person, alumnus, Board member, administrator or citizen of Carbondale. I am proud of Southern Illinois University and hope that you are too.
Rep. Bost‚s views do not necessarily reflect those of the DAILY EGYPTIAN
Published on 11/17/05; 12:24:44 PM
