A reality based independent journal of observation & analysis, serving the Flathead Valley & Montana since 2006. © James Conner.

5 December 2016

Additional observations on the University of Montana's predicament

Denise Juneau believes she’s qualified to be the University of Montana’s next president, and may apply for the job. Logicosity believes she’s a feel good candidate who might not be the best choice. If she applies for the job, the regents will consider her along with the others who apply, so the fix is not in.

Also not in is whether there’s a fix for the university’s decline that the university and the community will accept.

Without the university, Missoula is just another blue collar timber town trying to survive the transition from the timber mining boom to a sustained yield economy that produces many fewer board feet a year. Compared to Bozeman, it’s cloudier and not as nice a place to live — and it has problems with transients, public drunks, homelessness, and an alleged rape culture. That image may appeal to sociology majors, but they would be the exception.

Missoula’s character is one big problem. Another is the university’s addiction to an unsustainable program of big time college athletics. There’s been one athletics financial scandal after another, and a never ending series of incidents involving boorish, and worse, student athletes. Motel and saloon owners will overlook this, as they love the money that UM football, and to some extent, basketball, games generate. But the parents of prospective students look at this rowdiness and wonder whether Missoula is the best choice for their children.

Reassuring prospective students and their parents that UM and Missoula are good places will be difficult; perhaps, impossible:

  • The first question a student’s parents ask is, “Will my child be safe at this university?”

  • If the answer is “Yes,” they ask, “Will my child get a good education at this university?”

  • If that answer is “Yes,” they then ask, “Given our family’s resources, does this university offer levels of safety and academic excellence as good or better than at other universities we can afford and that would accept our child?”

A lot of families considering the University of Montana are answering that third question with a resounding “No.” Changing that reaction requires changing the university — and in particular, it requires radically de-emphasizing intercollegiate athletics. Because I don’t think it’s possible politically to cage and starve the athletic beast, I don’t think it’s possible to rescue UM.

My advice for the college bound and their parents? If you can afford it, send your sons and daughters to out-of-state schools so that they can benefit from living in a wider world. If you cannot afford it, send them to Montana State University.