If we could identify a great Christmas or Hanukkah gift for the university, it wouldn’t be distributing iPods to every student (although that’d be great) or canceling exams to hold a campuswide Halo 2 tournament (also great). All we want is a visit from Gov. Bob Ehrlich to speak with students about the higher education budget and tuition increases and the open, honest, healthy debate that would accompany it.
Ehrlich visited Towson University Tuesday to speak with a communication class and, while there, solidly answered touchy questions about media freedoms and multiculturalism. He didn’t speak about higher education with the class. But we hope that discussion and his interview last week with Student Government Association President Aaron Kraus have shown him college students can engage in respectful, intelligent debate about important issues – not the least of which are higher education and tuition.
If Ehrlich came to this campus to speak about those issues – and someone in the university administration should extend that invitation if they haven’t already – he’ll have a lot of tough questions to answer. Why cut more than $120 million from higher education in two years when it produces competent workers and pumps millions into the state every year? Why appoint regents who advocated doubling tuition? Why veto a bill that would limit tuition increases? Why wouldn’t you increase higher education’s budget? But Ehrlich is engaging in person and he wouldn’t be hurt trying to defend his policies himself. The best way to do it would be in a town hall forum, in which students and the governor would be more comfortable speaking about the budget and tuition. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld did it with troops in Kuwait; Ehrlich should do it with students.
The governor has warmed lately to higher education and said last week it would receive a “bump” in funding. If he follows through, University System of Maryland officials predict tuition next year will rise by about 5 percent. Things – for now at least – seem to be slowly improving. But to ensure Ehrlich has a real grasp on how his budgetary decisions affect students and give the university community a chance to have real dialogue with him, he needs to visit the campus and speak directly with students.
