To the Editor:
The Student Government Association discussed topics and issues within Northern Vermont University – Lyndon at their meeting on September 15, 2021. I am writing to express my concerns about the transformation from “NVU” to “Vermont State University” based on the conversation had.
Reporter Isabella Mertens wrote in her recap article that Ryan Cooney, the Student Trustee for the Vermont State Colleges, has not visited this university before. With that, Cooney stated that the Board of Trustees has discussed matters over the Newly Combined Entity (NCE) and is expecting to unify the academic programs from 250 to 100. The board is still unsure which campuses will hold which programs. I struggle to understand how Cooney and other trustees can discuss programs amongst universities if they do not visit the campuses more often. It is difficult to rely on one student, Cooney, to make the decision on what to do for Lyndon if he is not as present here as he is at Vermont Technical College – Williston, where he is studying.
There is an issue with the lack of individuality on the Lyndon campus since the unity of both Lyndon and Johnson. When thinking of NVU, there is no set campus. It is both Lyndon and Johnson; we are marketed as one. However, across the country, if there are sister campuses, there is a distinction. For example, at SUNY Delhi and SUNY Cobleskill, students refer to these campuses by their name “Delhi” and “Cobleskill” rather than just “SUNY.” Why can we not identify ourselves the way these campuses do?
Northern Vermont University is meant to be uniting with Castleton University and Vermont Technical College into VSU, a university model that will be launched in July 2023. If the merging of just two campuses already created a lack of uniqueness, what is meant to occur when five campuses combine?
How are students supposed to benefit from this merger? At Lyndon, it is difficult for students to get the health and counseling help they need because there are not enough people who are able to counsel and advise. Will the transformation be able to grant Lyndon more staff to help these students?
Being a first-year student, it is truly unsettling to see that the university I have committed to does not have the structure or stability that I would have hoped to see. When applying, I was not prepared for another tremendous change apart from leaving home. There was no warning that I would be attending a university that is unsure of plans that would affect my education. I am unsure if I am able to say with full certainty that the transformation from NVU-Lyndon to VSU-Lyndon can or will be beneficial.
Feature Photo by George Menard
Adrianne Hutchin
I cannot help but share some of the same concerns regarding this change. As a recent graduate from Lyndon with a double degree, I believe that I can share with some confidence some of the concerns the students from this campus have. What happened to the ‘One university-two campuses’? What are the futures of Lyndon’s award-winning Meteorological program and the incredible and one of its kind Restorative justice program? Where does this change leave these students, not to mention so many other majors and reasons students have come to Lyndon? Please understand that this is not just a resistance to change, but an objection to change that has not been researched and investigated enough. We do not feel that all viable options have been examined. We do not feel our voices are being heard or properly represented.
Peggy Lipscomb
I know this may not seem so important in the grand scheme of things, but I was astonished when the Lyndon campus bookstore was abolished. I know we are all getting textbooks from other places, but what about art supplies, school supplies, school identity stuff like sweatshirts? I can’t buy a new bumper sticker for my new car. To me it is a signal that Johnson is the preferred campus. What else have we lost that I haven’t noticed because I am a part-time commuter student? What else will we lose when all the campuses are joined? Will Castleton be the golden boy and the rest of us by-the-ways? I agree with the comment that we should keep our identities as much as possible. Any use of “Vermont State University” or “VSU” should be followed by the campus location. In California it is UC Davis or UC San Diego. Nobody ever uses UC by itself, because there are ten campuses. We can do the same. So let’s be VSU Lyndon, and fight for as much Lyndon-specific branding as possible.