The outrage University of Idaho students and alumni expressed toward the removal of “flagship” from the UI mission statement got the attention of Latah County Rep. Tom Trail, who plans to right the perceived wrong during this legislative session.
Rep. Trail, a long-time Latah County representative, and Sen. John Goedde of Couer d’Alene have drafted legislation officially establishing UI as Idaho’s flagship institution.
According to the draft, when UI was established a year prior to Idaho’s statehood and explicitly mentioned in the state constitution, “the university formed the core of the public system of higher education in the state.”
UI’s seniority, along with its land-grant status and 70 locations across the state, is clear grounds for officially adding UI to the ranks of flagship institutions, according to Rep. Trail’s proposal.
“Every state in the country has a flagship institution,” Rep. Trail said.
He said the intent behind the Idaho State Board of Education’s removal of flagship from UI’s mission statement is clear.
“I consider that a slap in the face to the University of Idaho,” Rep. Trail said
For ASUI President Samantha Perez, UI’s claim to the flagship title is not in doubt.
“The fact is we are the flagship,” Perez said, citing the approximately billion-dollar contribution UI makes to the state 44 counties.
Perez, who recently organized a petition to reinstate flagship that garnered more than 6,000 signatures, said she appreciates Rep. Trail’s efforts and hopes the legislature will get behind the university.
“I think they should support it and be proud,” Perez said. “Politics is not what’s good for students.”
Politics were the reason behind the SBOE’s decision, Perez said, and UI has suffered because of it.
“I don’t feel like this year they have our best interests at heart,” Perez said.
The rivalry on the football field may be dead, but Perez said the “flagship” controversy has re-ignited Vandal-Bronco tensions that have always extended beyond sports.
Perez said the SBOE is biased, and favors BSU and its president Bob Kustra, who was a vocal critic of the flagship designation.
Rep. Trail said he sees Kustra’s fingerprints on the board’s decision to remove “flagship.”
“I see some influence from BSU to make the decision,” he said. “BSU’s president is a savvy … wily individual who is trying to make BSU a successful institution.”
Kustra, who famously referred to the culture of UI as “nasty and inebriated,” has succeeded in growing his institution, UI-grad Rep. Trail said, thanks in large part to the notoriety of the successful Bronco football program, but BSU’s academics simply do not match UI’s.
Former Bronco Athletics Association President Milford Terrell, the SBOE member who proposed the removal of “flagship,” and the SBOE asserted they did not hear from Kustra prior to the decision. They said the moniker flagship was divisive and did not help further collaboration between the state’s universities.
“(The decision) was made to bring us together,” Perez said. “But it keeps reminding us the rivalry exists.”
Old grudges aside, the debate over equity in higher education funding underlies re-invigorated animosity between the two schools.
Funding allocated by the SBOE is based on a formula developed after a cost-analysis study of Idaho’s institutions. The formula evaluates the cost of the education at various institutions and delegates resources accordingly. UI receives the most money per student thanks to its technical programs and research efforts.
This discrepancy is behind the recent “2/3 of a Vandal” campaign created by BSU students as they want to take another look at the funding formula in light of BSU’s recent growth.
Perez said she was open to reevaluating the formula.
“That’s fine. Let’s go back and look at the formula,” Perez said. “We need to have fair and equitable funding, not equal funding.”
Perez said she thinks the board will come to the same conclusions, but that doesn’t signify any sort of favoritism from the board.
“We are all very important,” Perez said. “We are all very different — apples and oranges. We need to celebrate what all of us do well.”
UI’s lobbyist in Boise, former state senator Joe Stegner, said the decision doesn’t change the fact UI is the flagship as the oldest institution in the state.
“We were disappointed, but the board felt differently,” he said. “They have a different set of priorities and we understand that. They make the decision and the university will live with that decision.”
Perez said she also understands the SBOE’s predicament as the controlling body for all the state’s universities.
“I hope they look at what’s best for the state and the university,” she said.
Rep. Trail and Sen. Goedde are organizing a meeting with other interested parties, including Stegner, to discuss the legislation as it goes forward.
Stegner has cautioned Rep. Trail about “unintended consequences” from the legislation, but Rep. Trail and Moscow Cares, a local concerned citizens group, have already looked at renting billboard space on Highway 95 and Moscow Pullman Highway for the SBOE trip to Moscow in April. The billboards will welcome the board to Moscow “Home of Idaho’s Flagship University.”
Dylan Brown can be reached at [email protected]