Dr. Bruce Speck only spent a few sentences talking about it, but left no doubt to anyone hearing his words that he (or the person who is pulling his strings) is ready to give Missouri Southern State University's international program the old heave ho.
Speck noted that no one had really approved of the international mission at the college, leaving the impression that it was just another whim of Dr. Julio Leon. As anyone who has followed the university's news the past several months knows, much effort has been made by Board of Governors Chairman Dwight Douglas and Speck to discredit anything having to do with Dr. Leon.
An examination by the Coordinating Board of Higher Education will give MSSU "an excellent opportunity" to examine the international mission.
Speck was also careful to point out "Our mission is much larger than the international component," another indication that the program may be headed the way of the men's soccer team and the women's tennis team.
Or, if it continues, that it will be a mere shadow of what it has been- a magnet to students looking for a broader education.
2 comments:
That would be foolish.
In December I'll be 10 years out from leaving MSSU, and a large credit to how I view the world is from MSSU's international mission.
I'm from Baxter Springs, and I admit I didn't know much of what I wanted to do with my life when I went to college. But as a small-town boy in a small university (then college) I had my world expanded in ways I could have never imagined possible.
I wasn't exactly exposed to anything even remotely diverse, but MSSU opened my eyes to a world around me that I hadn't seen before. That world was not only from friends I made who came to study from other countries, but also by having opportunities to visit some of those same countries.
The exposure to a world outside southeast Kansas/southwest Missouri shaped who I am today, how I view the world, and how I understand my place in society. MSSU's international mission was crucial to my development as a contributing member of society, and I know that I am not alone.
Abandoning the international mission would be a grave mistake for MSSU, and would likely cause others to question: "Why should I go there, other than the price?"
MSSU needs to not treat education like Wal-Mart would.
well said, Rumblestrut...
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