Dear Dunn, stop neglecting East Hall, its embarrassing
Dear President John Dunn,
We do not understand the logic behind the proposed purchase of the old K‑Mart on Stadium Drive to house our archives. Western is willing to buy and renovate an old retail store, but is not willing to renovate the current housing for the archives, East Hall. It is so frustrating, as students of WMU, to see the administration purchase land and old buildings to develop or renovate, yet continue to neglect the buildings and land it already owns, including Dunbar, Sangren, McCracken, and much of historic East Campus.
In the Western Herald article explaining the proposal, the author states that “the recycling of abandoned big box stores is a popular topic in urban planning today.” What about recycling the historic buildings of East Campus that are the foundation of our university? How ironic it is for the archives to be removed from historic East Hall and placed in an abandoned retail store that has no historic value whatsoever.
The most frustrating part of all this is that year after year the university continues to buy up abandoned buildings and old property, build new and modern structures, and yet complains when confronted that there is no money to renovate East Campus. If any of the last administrations actually cared about the status of East Campus and campaigned to save it, there is no doubt that the funds could be raised. As students of Western Michigan University, we are deeply passionate about this school and have been proud to call ourselves Broncos. However, our pride in this university has been devastated by the absence of a true and heartfelt attempt from the administration, to raise the finances to save East Campus, to maintain the buildings currently falling into disrepair, and to salvage WMU’s reputation as a research-based, historical campus.
President Dunn, we understand the concern to create novel programs and build modern structures to attract students to this university, but you cannot build a shiny new tower on a crumbling foundation.
We implore you to take these words into consideration, to fight on behalf of the students and the integrity of this university.
Brenden P. Boudreau and
Elizabeth C. Schoenborn
WMU students
Short URL: http://www.westernherald.com/?p=15051
Posted by heraldstaff
on Feb 21 2010. Filed under Letters to the Editor, Opinion.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0.
You can leave a response or trackback to this entry
http://HeraldStaff
Loading ...
I know why Dunn doesn’t want to renovate any buildings, its because they already have “names” East Hall will stay East Hall, Dunn wants a “Dunn Hall” named after him, that’s all he and the trustees care about since they ignore their costumers (i.e. students) that supply them with 70% of Westerns funding.
Kmart could be renamed Dunn Hall. That would be an appropriate memorial for Dr. Dunn’s lack of concern for East Campus and WMU’s historic legacy.
Western’s students long for the look of heritage and history at their University that they see in the crumbling buildings of the East Campus. Western needs space for it’s programs. Communiuty members, many of whom are Western grads, plan to raise millions from community members who are also Western grads, for Kalamazoo’s downtown project. Why will folks in our community pledge funds for this project which is now just vacant land? Because a plan has been developed and promoted. When will Western announce a visionary plan for the reuse of its assets on East Campus?
I am just another student and I am also just as sad to see East Campus continue to deteriorate. The problem here is just plain old cost! I am not involved with any group and this is just a random opinion. I have talked to a few Western officials about this randomly and it is just a VERY expensive price tag to renovating East Hall and the other building close to it. I assure all of you that even without asking President Dunn and the rest of his Administration that they Really wish they had the money to fix and use East Campus. But with the current situation of the state and the money problems Lansing is having, there just isn’t any money to fix the buildings.
This is what separates universities like WMU, Michigan, Hillsdale, etc. from the “mass production” institutions — history. Christine hit the nail on the head, East Campus has so much of that history, and students and alumni long for it. WMU never thinks twice about promoting the fact that they’ve been around since 1903, but what do we have to show for it? A bunch of rotting relics on top of a hill?
When I (and others I’m sure) think of WMU, I think of a bunch of run-of-the-mill West Campus buildings from the 60s and 70s. I don’t think of East Campus because it’s not ingrained into WMU’s identity anymore. That needs to change.
I really would like to see East Campus revitalized, too. East Campus is beautiful and should be a proud legacy. Mr. Waldo would be crushed to see his beloved university look so neglected. The Main campus is just ugly. Wouldn’t a fixed up East Campus look great on brochures to would-be students?
Who do we talk to about making this happen? I have started a non-profit and would love to work with Western to utilize the space in any of those beautiful buildings. From what I’ve learned of local politics there is more to it than Dunn wanting to put his name on a building. There are probably vested interests (read conflicts of interest) into buying the vacant K-Mart lot on the board.
East Campus is easily the most beautiful spot in town, it’s a shame the short term gain for the board is outweighing the long term standing of our university.