The term “flagship” was removed from the University of Idaho’s mission statement after a unanimous vote by the State Board of Education Thursday.
“I thought there would be some considerable debate,” said UI President M. Duane Nellis. “It was led by Regent Terrell. He’s the one that proposed the change, and others seemed to be supportive after he made his statement. I tried to counter that but in the end … when you’re at the top, I think you become a target for other institutions. That’s the reality.”
The proposal to remove the term “flagship” came from board member Milford Terrell during the meeting Wednesday, and was countered by Nellis and ASUI president Samantha Perez. The motion to remove the term passed unanimously with one board member, Emma Atchley, absent.
“Whether you look at graduation rates, retention rates, research productivity, the outreach that our students do through service-learning — in every way we are providing leadership and ‘flagship’ is a very common connotation to the lead university,” Nellis said. “We have 123 years of that here in Idaho and it’s disappointing to me that the board is not willing to recognize that any longer through our mission statement.”
Terrell expressed concern regarding use of the term “flagship” in the university’s mission statement. Idaho State University President Arthur Vailas said he believes the term has a negative connotation for other universities in Idaho, and Boise State University President Bob Kustra told Perez and Nellis he supported the change to take out flagship.
“I thought it was really interesting for them to get involved in this matter that doesn’t really involve them,” Perez said. “I think that it’s just because if they take ‘flagship’ away from us then maybe we’ll all be on an equal playing ground or something.”
Perez said she spoke to Terrell in an effort to understand his perspective.
“He said that he thinks it’s a politically incorrect term and he thinks that it has a negative connotation,” Perez said.
Perez said she told Terrell it was the board’s responsibility to change flagship’s connotation because the term is used nationally.
“It’s not like we were favored and the governor declared that we were ‘flagship,'” Perez said. “It’s just a term that means that we were first.”
Nellis said the vote to remove “flagship” is a disappointing statement from the board about the university’s many recent successes, and he had hoped the board would show support by allowing the university to continue to use the term in its mission statement.
“We have offices in 42 of 44 counties and we have 70 locations around the state,” Nellis said. “No other institution in our state has that type of breadth of impact, not just in agriculture, but in community vibrancy and quality of life, and forestry, and many others — engineering.”
Perez said she was disappointed in the board because she doesn’t feel it is looking out for students’ best interests.
“It’s just political, it’s all political,” Perez said. “Removing the word ‘flagship’ doesn’t benefit anyone in any way. It doesn’t benefit students. That’s for sure.”
Perez said she looks to the board for leadership, and the decision is more political than practical.
“They are not a fact-driven board,” she said. “It’s a fact that we’re a flagship and we should be able to use that in our mission statement.”
Nellis said he thinks students will understand some of the political dynamics that went into the decision, but will be disappointed in the outcome.
“Maybe it’s a learning moment for some of the students about the politics we’re facing in our state right now,” Nellis said.
Although the term has been removed from the mission statement, Nellis said the university will continue to use it in marketing.
“I think it’s a reflection of the changing tone of the board and I worry about the unwillingness to recognize what I feel we are, which is being the lead institution in our state,” Nellis said.
Perez said she thinks it is important to market the university as a flagship institution because a lot of students are interested in flagship programs.
“I think as students we just think of it as a term that says that we were first, and we led the field. We led the way for higher education in the state of Idaho,” Perez said.
Nellis said he was disappointed that the board publicly made an effort to remove that term from the university’s mission statement.
“I think that was driven by some of our other institutions in our state and I think that’s unfortunate because the board should be supporting,” Nellis said. “They should celebrate the fact that we’re the flagship university in our state and celebrate our success and I think that’s what that term reflects.”
Nellis said he was told late Tuesday that the issue would likely come up at the meeting, but he was surprised at how much support it had from board members.
Perez said the state board should be proud of its flagship institution.
“We’ll still be listed as Idaho’s flagship,” Perez said. “They can’t take the title away from us. It’s a national thing. They can just make us take it out of our mission statement.”