David Russell

Lock Haven

This past Tuesday, Governor Josh Shapiro gave his annual budget address and, shockingly, he proposed no increase in funding for the PASSHE system, which Lock Haven is a member of. The governor’s thinking is totally befuddling, especially given that the system did not receive a budget increase in the most recently passed budget. Going two years without any increase, especially considering the current state of inflation, is simply unsustainable.

If our region had legitimate representation in Harrisburg, we might have an avenue of appeal. However, on their best days, Representative Stephanie Borowicz and Senator Cris Dush are laughably incompetent party stooges, and, let’s face it, they rarely have good days. They have not lifted a finger to help Lock Haven University, and no thinking person believes that they will change their ways now.

In the interest of full disclosure, I am one of the “overpaid” professors on campus (and the opinions expressed here are my own). But my concern has nothing to do with me — faculty have a contract that runs for the next two years.

However, we have hundreds of millions of dollars of deferred maintenance on campus. Anyone who walks around the campus today will see the generally dilapidated state of our infrastructure, something that parents no doubt see when they bring their children for campus visits.

With no funding increase, the Board of Governors will have to raise tuition again, meaning that many deserving students are going to be further stretched, perhaps to the point where they will have to withdraw and defer (or give up on) the dreams they have.

Governor Shapiro is running for re-election this year. How can he justify his Corbett-like neglect of the state-owned university system?

Higher education gets a bad rap these days, but it is still the single best way to help people improve their economic circumstances. LHU is also a very important part of the region’s economy and cultural life.

We need to raise our voices, because our representatives won’t, to let the Governor know that his short-sightedness needs to be corrected pronto.