In years past, CSU President Tony Frank’s annual fall address has stayed consistent with his usual talking points: that students are subsidizing a larger portion of their state higher education than ever before and despite this, CSU is a great university.
While declining state funding and increasing tuition are indeed on the forefront of everyone’s minds, we’d like to see Frank address the most pressing issue to the CSU community –– the fate of the on-campus stadium.
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During the final meeting of the Stadium Advisory Committee meeting in August, Frank admitted that this decision has dominated university discussion and fragmented the community. Frank said he intends to make a decision about the project by early October via an e-mail to students and faculty.
According to a press release, however, the purpose of the Fall Presidential Address is to discuss the highlights of the past year. The thing is, nothing happened that was bigger than the controversy swirling around the on-campus stadium.
There has been no new information about the feasibility of the on-campus stadium since August. His thoughts on the project now probably won’t differ from what his thoughts will be in October.
And more importantly, this address is Frank’s biggest opportunity to speak directly to a large assembly of students and faculty. A decision of this magnitude deserves a better forum than simply a mass email and will give Frank the opportunity to directly explain his reasoning to the community.
True, this would certainly make his address far more controversial than if he simply stuck to his usual talking points.
But for the past year, Frank has been encouraging the athletic department to enter a “bold new era.”
Frank should take that boldness to heart.
