Editor’s note: This commentary is by state Sen. Joe Benning, the Senate minority leader who represents the Caledonia-Orange District in the Vermont Senate. He was the president of the Student Government Association at Lyndon State College in 1978-1979.
We cannot allow Covid-19 to be the death knell of the Vermont State Colleges. When this system was created, the statutory authorization act specifically stated that they would be supported “in whole or substantial party” by the state Legislature. For the past 40 years chancellors have been trying to tell legislators that support was slipping and they couldn’t be sustained. When I left Lyndon in 1979, state support was approximately 50%. Today that figure is less than 20%. That problem must be legislatively corrected.
But the Legislature is not solely to blame for this predicament. Through the years a number of bad decisions have been made. What used to be a healthy mix of native Vermont students and out-of-state students, has become quite lopsided in the direction of natives. It’s not that the colleges shouldn’t be doing everything in their power to attract native Vermonters, especially first-in-family college students, but that emphasis has struggled in the face of shrinking native demographics. Out-of-state students pay higher tuition, and greater salesmanship is sorely needed if we are going to attract them.
Another mistake through the years has been the growth of the Community College of Vermont. While its growth was admittedly a well-intentioned effort to attract native Vermonters, it has come at the expense of dollars that were supposed to sustain the brick and mortar of the other colleges. Those other colleges, residential units one and all, contain the residence halls crucial to out-of-state residents and Vermonters who choose to travel far enough from home to learn to live on their own. There are lessons here. Out-of-state students need beds. They will not come to a community college. And beware reliance on online courses. You cannot learn to run a resort, learn to insert an IV, run a television camera or interview, or learn to teach in a classroom through a video screen. And as we are all learning during this pandemic, video chats will never replace human interaction and the personal growth that brings.
Another mistake through the years was to permit too many expansions of brick and mortar in the face of shrinking demographics and static state funding. Somewhere along the way a mad dash began for expansion, ostensibly to attract more students, and the spiral got out of control. Campuses seemed to compete with each other in building new facilities. Throw in expanded bureaucracy and something clearly went awry. Both need radical attention. Unused and aging buildings should be torn down, but not the institutions that support the communities they are in. Cutting bureaucracy is never an easy thing, but this is a time for fortitude.
A similar situation faced the colleges back in 1979 when I was honored to be elected as the first student to serve on the board of trustees. The three largest institutions, Castleton, Johnson and Lyndon, were all liberal arts colleges. Financial pressure forced the board to reconstruct. We did so first by recognizing that liberal arts was not what students were then seeking. But each institution contained bright lights with unique curriculum that could be built upon. So we streamlined and coordinated curriculum in order to avoid repetition, jettisoning those programs that weren’t attracting students, and enhancing those that appeared to be trending.
By way of example, we focused Lyndon on educational training, meteorological science and media. The best salespeople we could find were sent across the land to attract students from outside Vermont’s borders. It worked. Today practically every school in Vermont has teachers and administrators from Lyndon’s feeding program. (Ask Jeff Francis, now heading the Vermont Superintendents Association.) Lyndon’s atmospheric sciences program is responsible for virtually every weather report you will hear in Vermont and even America. (Ask Jim Cantore from the Weather Channel, or the “Eye on the Sky” guys Mark Breen, Steve Maleski, Lawrence Hayes and Christopher Kurdek.) Lyndon’s media program now has virtually every television and radio station in Vermont and New England populated with Lyndon grads. (Ask Steve Cormier from WDEV or Rich Haskell from WVMT.) Lyndon also produced business entrepreneurs who’ve sprouted countless local businesses and risen to the top of international enterprises. (Ask Carhartt CEO Mark Valade.) Every name on this list has two things in common with this essay’s author. First, we all went to what is now NVU-Lyndon. Second, none of us were born in Vermont. We attended Lyndon for various reasons, but we all came because somebody did a really good job selling the college. Most of us remain here, trying our best to help Vermont grow. Lyndon, Johnson and VTC all have similar stories to tell.
These colleges cannot simply be looked at as storefronts for profit. For well over a century they have been an integral part of the community we call Vermont. They carry on the spirit and foresight of the authors of our Constitution who, looking specifically into the future, put language in that document that demanded support for the education of our youth. These colleges definitely should educate those born here, and geographically sprinkled as they are, they are very accessible statewide. Just as important, they are the vehicles that attract youth from around the world to come to Vermont. Many stay and help Vermont grow. Both natives and those “from away” become Vermont’s ambassadors throughout the world, helping to perpetuate the cycle that makes Vermont healthy and diverse. Their students fill every business in Vermont’s present economy; their graduates support and often create the very businesses keeping our economic engine running.
Yes, the Legislature must react by prioritizing funding, even if doing so comes at the expense of other great ideas. Yes, the colleges need to be restructured, but not by crippling the communities they support. We cannot abandon the legacy of our ancestors or hamstring our descendants with quick decisions in difficult times. We should remember our history before we become history and take the time to think this through.
