After months of secrecy, closed-door meetings and on-the-hush debate, it finally has happened - MSU and the city of Grand Rapids have reached a compromise on how to divide the College of Human Medicine unequally between the two locations. MSU will hang on to at least 25 first- and second-year students - more than the number of regular attendants at any class in Bessey Hall - while the rest hoot and holler their way to becoming doctors on Michigan's west coast.
The "compromise," however, won't be official until the MSU Board of Trustees votes one month from now to undoubtedly pass the resolution unanimously. We're all holding our breath that the trustees vote in the affirmative. Cough.
And the outpouring of vibrant emotion is nothing short of overpowering. Glenn Davis, dean of the medical school, called the compromise "viable." East Lansing Mayor Mark Meadows said the compromise was more of a "commitment." State Sen. Virg Bernero, D-Lansing, said he was "hoping for more," and MSU President M. Peter McPherson called it a gain, not a loss.
Wow. All the unbridled enthusiasm of a Dashboard Confessional record. The "compromise," as it were, must have included a few doses of Valium. But while we appreciate the lukewarm reception and lip service from our local leaders, we at The State News would like to suggest a better option.
How about MSU and East Lansing officials open up and tell us the real reason the medical school is being moved 70 miles away? The entire state knows our university's pockets are light right now, and it'll be no surprise if the decision was made by the bottom line. If this "compromise" is expected to happen either way, some forthrightness and disclosure would surely sweeten what seems to be a bitter pill to swallow.
If doctoral students aren't bringing in research grants to the university, tell us. If MSU really can't afford to maintain our medical school in the style it's accustomed to, clue us in. If it's because someone got involved with the Grand Rapids mafia, if it has something to do with Jimmy Hoffa's whereabouts or even the Bermuda Triangle, give us something.
Give the university community a genuine reason why the majority of the College of Human Medicine is being relocated down Interstate-96.
The private meetings and the "veil of secrecy," as Bernero called it, is only more ambiguity. We only know what they hope will happen. We're only aware of the possibilities of how this will benefit MSU in the long run. And until we have full disclosure, anyone with an iron in this fire is responsible for pre-med students switching their major because their first-choice medical school packed up in the middle of the night like the Baltimore Colts moving to Indianapolis.
We aren't interested in hearing how this is actually beneficial in the long run, because the only fact prevalent in this story so far is MSU's medical school is leaving for greener pastures. An arm of our university is amputated, and we're given no genuine reason why. If the coffers are low and the balance is negative, it won't be a major surprise. If a Grand Rapids investor is footing the bill, great - more cash for us. But someone needs to speak up.
