A close friend and I were visiting and he said “I am a product of ESU and (I) am sickened by current events.”
I suggested he read the Spring 2023 edition of the ESU Spotlight which explains a lot about the new ESU Model.
He then offered sickened may not have been the right word suggesting he was rather – saddened by the current events at his alma mater.
Since I could not agree more that some of the events at ESU indeed make me sad I responded.
First though, if you are interested in the goings on at Emporia State University you will be enlightened if you read – with as open a mind as possible – the ESU Spotlight Spring 2023. The publication which is produced for the Alumni and Friends of Hornet Nation is a comprehensive look at the why, when, and how the ESU Model came into being.
If you did not receive the Spotlight it can be found @ ESU Spotlight Spring 2023.
What is occurring at Emporia State is the result of years, no decades of public support for higher education being diminished. To offset the loss of public money tuition has gone up and schools have been forced to cut budgets almost annually. You can add to those facts the ongoing decline in high school graduates and the real changes in the necessity to even have a college degree.
The Spotlight articles provide excellent accounts of the plight ESU is facing.
What President Hush and his leadership group are doing is refusing to further kick the can down the road by making bold decisions that are designed to give the university a working model providing for stability and a sustainable future – both missing with the status quo.
Guess what? Bobbi and I are sad too. A program we invested in has been suspended and the professor – a good friend has been terminated.
But, numbers don’t lie. Hard decisions had to be made. Some seem unfair, but when the very future of the institution was on the line – fair became a relative term.
The ESU Spotlight Spring 2023 edition delineates in detail ESU’s perspective.
Check it out and please – don’t be guilty of that often abused practice of: “Don’t confuse me with the facts, my mind is made up.”
Definitely, Something to Think About! Stingers Up!
I’m Steve Sauder
