Editor’s note: This commentary is by Scudder Parker, who was a state senator from Caledonia County in the 1980s. He has worked as a utility regulator, an energy policy leader, and an activist for the environment and human rights. He is now busy writing poetry.
The proposal to shutter Northern Vermont University, with its campuses in Lyndon and Johnson, and the Randolph campus of Vermont Technical College seems to me a case study in giving up on the future because we are stuck in a present that isn’t working well.
If the proposal, as some suggest, and as Gov. Phil Scott may imply, is in fact a “shocker” intended to get a new discussion going, then let’s frame that discussion well and get started.
I would defer to Richard Moye, and the excellent points he made in his recent commentary. His knowledge and experience of the system and many of his suggestions are based on firsthand experience I do not have.
I think the crisis behind this proposal should be treated as an opportunity to ask some much bigger questions, and realize transformative possibilities. The very real challenges the Vermont State Colleges System is confronting should be considered in the context of the overwhelming challenges our state, nation and world are facing.
Should we be abandoning institutions that are developing educators, farmers, community resources and leaders in science, the arts, better partnership with the natural world, technology innovation and application in (especially) rural Vermont? And should we forget the power of first-time educational and leadership opportunities for young people that is affordable and close to home? Or the very real benefit of luring caring, dedicated “outsiders” who become passionate, contributing and dedicated Vermonters? Of course not. We need more, not less of that kind of opportunity.
We face a broken and often destructive food system; an energy system that is making our planet uninhabitable; housing that’s increasingly unaffordable and unavailable for half our population; resource systems that create toxic dead-ends of “waste,” rather than healthy cycles of use, integration and re-use; a health care system that is riddled with inequality and lacks a commitment to ensuring good physical and mental health as a basic right for everyone.
We see throughout the nation a massive disinvestment in rural productivity, wisdom and opportunity. Vermont can lead.
We have been a state with imaginative and innovative beacons of hope that suggest what a vibrant, healthy rural life might be like. We are also a state with lofty goals for environmental quality, strong communities, and equal opportunity for all. But stating it plainly, we haven’t been living up to most of them — and we don’t systematically integrate them into a healthy economy that creates new opportunity for many struggling Vermonters.
Could we use this crisis to ask what it will take to train and mobilize a workforce that can help accomplish these objectives, and as a state, commit to the policies and investment strategies that will encourage these desperately needed growth sectors in our economy?
We should begin by learning from what is already going on in our hills, valleys and communities.
Let’s draw on initiatives and institutions already operating and the amazing people working in them. Ask what they would propose as “bold new steps” to move us forward. Being a Northeast Kingdom boy, I would start with two examples: The Center for an Agricultural Economy in Hardwick and Sterling College in Craftsbury. What do they need to build on what they are learning? What partnerships with the state colleges are already in place that could be expanded; and what new partnerships would be helpful?
Let’s begin a new network of collaboration as Moye has suggested, starting with Community College of Vermont, and perhaps the University of Vermont.
Could we partner with the remarkable energy efficiency and renewable energy infrastructure in the state to guide, train and mobilize massive investment in a safe, clean, affordable building, transportation and distributed energy system? We have a great start. We need to do so much more.
Could we invest in water and land-use strategies that store carbon, minimize runoff, and produce abundant locally-produced and processed food for all Vermonters? I think we can. Could we build networks of community health centers and support services for every Vermonter? Could we improve training, support and pay for child care workers, and the health care aides who help support our senior citizens? Can our community institutions of higher learning mobilize to support these efforts? Absolutely.
We are learning from our current health care crisis that we can change behavior dramatically and mobilize massive resources when the problem seems immediate. Can’t we do that in response to the huge web of threats and destructive forces that has us struggling, seemingly incapacitated?
We have the best congressional delegation of any state in the nation. They will be there to help in the near- and long-term with policy and investment to help make this a reality.
I am not interested in attacking those who have put forth this proposal. The challenges they face are real. Anger and recrimination won’t be very useful.
But saying “Stop. Listen. Reframe. Think Bigger. Solve the real problems.” is essential.
