Thursday, Feb. 05, 2009

A mission in jeopardy

A series of federal acts in the late 1800s and early 1900s established the University of Missouri’s mission as a land-grant university — a mission which today is under threat by the budget ax of Gov. Jay Nixon.

The Morrill Act of 1862 donated lands to states wishing to establish institutions of higher learning that would extend their reach beyond their relatively small physical campuses, such as the University’s main Columbia site. In accordance with the agreement, the university agreed to serve as a beacon of education, research, science and assistance to all citizens from Harrisonville to Sikeston and Neosho to Hannibal.

As the state has evolved, that reach has extended from our farmlands into our cities so Missourians of all ages and backgrounds could benefit from programs such as 4-H, continuing education, fire and rescue training, law enforcement and many others that are essential to the livelihood of our economy and way of life.

There is little doubt the ax must fall somewhere in this time of turmoil. Health care, food stamps and a myriad of other social programs all are at risk and stand to cause true pain if they are cut.

But last week, Gov. Nixon stood firm in his commitment to the University of Missouri system and, we thought, made it clear that it was safe from crippling cuts as long as the system agreed to freeze tuition.

We didn’t realize that promise only carried to the classroom doors of the state’s physical campuses. We didn’t realize construction, such as a major project already under way at the University of Central Missouri in Warrensburg would be halted at once.

And we certainly didn’t realize that our friends and neighbors at our local Extension offices — upon whom many of us rely on a regular basis — would suddenly be faced with extinction.

The Extension system was created from a promise made more than a century ago in exchange for a grant of land in a prime location. While Nixon is not proposing a complete shutdown of the system, a 50 percent cut in funding as is being proposed will result in an Extension that is no longer recognizable. And the result falls well short of the mission the University promised to fulfill.