Imagine 10,000 Vandals standing together as one.
That is ASUI President Samantha Perez’s goal. Perez started an online petition in hopes of re-hoisting the sails of the flagship university in Idaho after the Idaho State Board of Education unanimously voted to remove the term “flagship” from the University of Idaho’s mission statement.
The discussion is not if UI is the flagship university in Idaho — it is. The discussion is why we are not allowed to say that in our mission statement.
The proposal to remove flagship was spearheaded by a board member who is a Boise State University alumnus and does not have the best interest of all state institutions in mind.
Something needs to be done to reverse the politically driven decision, but will the petition be effective?
The petition has already received more than 3,200 signatures. It is a statement to the SBOE that Vandals will not stand aside during a petty debate to remove a term the institution has earned since it was established under the provisions in the Morrill Act of 1862.
But what happens when 10,000 signatures is reached? Will the SBOE reconsider its decision? It’s unlikely.
But SBOE members need to pay attention.
The message behind the petition isn’t that if we sign, they will change their decision. This is only a stepping stone. Another petition, a letter to the SBOE or Facebook group opposing the decision are all ways to reinforce the message that the University of Idaho is the flagship institution of a state younger than UI itself. Better yet, the SBOE will be on our campus in April and students can publicly voice their opposition to the decision.
The petition started by Perez is not the battle, but the ammunition we will use in proving through determination that we are, and always will be, the flagship of Idaho.
–MM – See more at: file:///Volumes/argonaut$/stories/sections/opinion/stories/2012/Feb/22/fight_for_flagship.html#sthash.sh2LlJeA.dpuf
That is ASUI President Samantha Perez’s goal. Perez started an online petition in hopes of re-hoisting the sails of the flagship university in Idaho after the Idaho State Board of Education unanimously voted to remove the term “flagship” from the University of Idaho’s mission statement.
The discussion is not if UI is the flagship university in Idaho — it is. The discussion is why we are not allowed to say that in our mission statement.
The proposal to remove flagship was spearheaded by a board member who is a Boise State University alumnus and does not have the best interest of all state institutions in mind.
Something needs to be done to reverse the politically driven decision, but will the petition be effective?
The petition has already received more than 3,200 signatures. It is a statement to the SBOE that Vandals will not stand aside during a petty debate to remove a term the institution has earned since it was established under the provisions in the Morrill Act of 1862.
But what happens when 10,000 signatures is reached? Will the SBOE reconsider its decision? It’s unlikely.
But SBOE members need to pay attention.
The message behind the petition isn’t that if we sign, they will change their decision. This is only a stepping stone. Another petition, a letter to the SBOE or Facebook group opposing the decision are all ways to reinforce the message that the University of Idaho is the flagship institution of a state younger than UI itself. Better yet, the SBOE will be on our campus in April and students can publicly voice their opposition to the decision.
The petition started by Perez is not the battle, but the ammunition we will use in proving through determination that we are, and always will be, the flagship of Idaho.
–MM – See more at: file:///Volumes/argonaut$/stories/sections/opinion/stories/2012/Feb/22/fight_for_flagship.html#sthash.sh2LlJeA.dpuf