NIU President Defends Cole Hall Plan, Backs Away Updated X1

5 comments March 4th, 2008

Northern Illinois University President John Peters today defended his $40 million plan to raze Cole Hall, where a gunman killed five students plus himself, and replace it with another building nearby.

But in a letter to the NIU community, Peters also backed away from that plan and solicited greater community input.

The punch line, in three parts, is here:

I have expressed my own view that we should decommission Cole Hall as a classroom building. I made that judgment after talking with scores of students, parents, faculty and alumni who told me they could not fathom returning to Cole Hall to teach or study.

And here:

In the days that have followed that tragic event, different voices and opinions have emerged, and we must take in all those viewpoints before moving forward.

And here:

In the spirit of shared governance, I pledge to do all I can to facilitate the expression of all opinions.

The Peters letter came a day after Sen. Brad Burzynski, R-Clare, threw water on the $40 million rebuilding plan by calling it “off the table.” Burzynski backed the plan last Wednesday, when Gov. Rod Blagojevich visted NIU and announced it together with Peters, but said Monday he decided it was not fiscally prudent.

For his part, the governor has done nothing to publicly mitigate the blow to Peters’ rebuilding plan. Blagojevich took ownership of that plan during his announcement last week, but on Monday his aides stepped clear of it by saying they’re planning to support what NIU leaders want.

In other words, the governor’s office declined to defend the rebuilding plan and left it up to NIU to fight for it.

Here is the full letter from President Peters, and it is also posted here:

Dear Students and Colleagues,

It has been nearly three weeks since the tragic events of February 14. It would be unreasonable to expect our campus to have moved on without remnants of fear, anxiety or grief. Our family has been injured, and we turn inward to comfort each other and gather strength for the journey ahead. The tremendous response from across our campus and the overwhelming appreciation we have gained for each other is a testament to the strong sense of community that defines NIU.

All of us have seen wonderful expressions of caring over the past few weeks - kindnesses both large and small, from people we see every day and people we have never met. The outpouring of support from far and near has been a great inspiration, and we remain indebted to all who have offered a hand in our time of need - counselors, religious leaders, community members, colleagues from across the country - all those who have reached out have offered a healing touch at a difficult time. We can never repay them, but we can and must offer our heartfelt thanks for their generosity.

Even as we acknowledge our loss and express our gratitude we must also look forward, as we have family business to attend to. Three key issues present themselves for our consideration:

First, we must decide how we want to memorialize that which has been lost - precious lives, a sense of security, our belief in the sanctity of an open campus. Part of our healing process must involve a family discussion about these issues and how to express our feelings through a permanent legacy. Our goal is to create a special place on our campus where generations of the NIU family can come to remember those we lost and reflect on what we can each do to honor their legacy. To that end, I am forming a February 14th Memorial Committee, chaired by Vice President for Advancement Mike Malone and including students, faculty, staff, families and alumni, to solicit opinions and develop ideas for a fitting memorial. That memorial will be made possible through private donations and will represent the best thinking of a broad-based NIU group.

Second, we must address the very real space needs brought about by the closure of Cole Hall. Much has been written on this topic in recent days, but little of that discourse has come from our campus community. I want to make sure that the most important voices in this debate - those of our students, faculty and staff - are heard and heeded. Student government is already working on this issue, gathering opinions and discussing options. Provost Ray Alden and Paul Stoddard, executive secretary of the University Council are likewise assessing campus views on our immediate, mid-range and long-term space needs related to the closure of Cole Hall. The domino-effect of class space reallocation has impacted nearly 10,000 students in more than 150 class sections. The Provost’s work group, consisting of faculty, staff and students, is looking carefully at all of the details involved in short- medium- and long-term replacement of instructional space lost in the Cole Hall closure.

Third, we must engage in a campus-wide discussion about the future of Cole Hall. Immediately following the tragic shootings on February 14, we closed Cole Hall through the end of this fiscal year. We now face the question of what to do with this facility in the future. Our answer should represent a consensus opinion formulated by all members of our campus community. We must decide whether to remove the building or keep it; to reopen it in its present form or change its purpose or configuration. Any decision carries emotional and financial costs. I have expressed my own view that we should decommission Cole Hall as a classroom building. I made that judgment after talking with scores of students, parents, faculty and alumni who told me they could not fathom returning to Cole Hall to teach or study. In the days that have followed that tragic event, different voices and opinions have emerged, and we must take in all those viewpoints before moving forward. In the spirit of shared governance, I pledge to do all I can to facilitate the expression of all opinions. To that end, we have established a confidential email mailbox (colehall@niu.edu) to which any and all members of our community may submit opinions. Ultimately, our decisions on an appropriate memorial, reassignment of classroom spaces and the future of Cole Hall must address both the emotional and practical considerations we face as an injured but united campus community.

Once consensus is reached, it will be up to the NIU family to communicate our needs to our state leaders and ask for assistance in meeting those needs. We know all too well the fiscal constraints facing our state, and we remain mindful of that reality even as we advocate for our campus. I remain confident that our elected officials and the citizens of this state will step forward at the appropriate time to assist NIU in addressing our classroom space issues.

Finally, I want to thank all of you for the efforts you have made to welcome back our students and resume our university life following our tragedy. We are by no means done with our grieving, and we know that healing is a long journey with many bumps along the way. Yet I could not be more proud of this wonderful NIU family. We have found the best in ourselves and in each other - let us never forget that. I remain, as always, in your debt and most grateful to be a part of NIU.

Sincerely,

John G. Peters

President

UPDATE 1

The Register Star’s story this morning includes comment from Cherilyn Murer, chair of NIU’s board of trustees:

Murer said it’s important for the community to view NIU’s plan for a memorial separately from its need to accommodate students displaced from Cole Hall, a centrally located building with two lecture halls.

She said NIU leaders do want community input relative to a memorial. But as to how the university decides to handle classroom space, she said, “These are internal matters.”

“That doesn’t usually come for (a) vote in the community,” she said of infrastructure considerations.

Murer also responded to critics of NIU’s response, saying they lacked the perspective she gained from touring Cole Hall after the shootings.

“I did take issue with people saying it’s just like if somebody dies in your house,” she said.

“Well, it isn’t like if someone dies in your house. It was a massacre in there, and there was blood all over the walls and the floor. It was an area where you knew you could not have students return to that building to be educated.”

NIU Board Never Met Over Cole Hall Plan Updated X1

Add comment March 4th, 2008

The Northern Illinois University Board of Trustees never had a meeting concerning the controversial plan to raze Cole Hall and replace it with another facility.

So said Barbara Giorgi Vella, a trustee from Rockford, in a phone conversation on Tuesday. However, she said NIU President John Peters made clear that the $40 million rebuilding plan was his priority, and she wanted to help.

“We didn’t have any meetings about this,” she said. “He just said off the cuff, ‘Gee it’s going to be hard to replace this building, and some of the kids are uncomfortable coming back. It’s going to be a problem and we need more space.’ That’s how, I guess, it came about.”

She added, “At some point the governor was saying, ‘What can the state do to help NIU get through this crisis.’ So that’s how it started. I don’t too much else to be honest with you.”

Did she like the plan?

“I didn’t have any opinion at the time, in other words against or for,” she said. “I just wanted to do what was most efficient and best for the students, really. I didn’t have any agenda either way.”

Yesterday, Sen. Brad Burzynski, R-Clare, threw cold water on the $40 million plan, saying it’s “off the table.” Giorgi Vella, daughter of the legendary late Rep. “Zeke” Giorgi from Rockford, said it appeared the plan became mired in political considerations.

“Unfortunately, it’s become tied up in all sorts of other things,” she said. “I can’t even venture to comment. I am not political. I just gather that all kinds of things have come to pass and bear.”

UPDATE 1

Joan Laurino, an aide in NIU’s external affairs office, just called and said Peters and Kathryn Buettner, the university’s VP of external affairs, have no comment on Burzynski’s remarks.

I’m still waiting to hear whether Peters remains committed to the $40 million rebuilding plan.

Budget Debate Coming to Rockford

Add comment March 4th, 2008

For the second year in a row, House Speaker Michael Madigan, D-Chicago, is sponsoring hearings around Illinois regarding the budget for the next fiscal year.

Rockford’s hearing is at 6 p.m. Tuesday, March 25 at the Zeke Giorgi Center. Citizens are invited to attend and sound off about their state’s spending priorities.

Madigan’s news release and accompanying schedule of hearings are here.

Background on the governor’s budget plan for the next fiscal year, which begins July 1, is here.

Did Illinois Brown-Nose the Teacher?

Add comment March 4th, 2008

State officials every couple years find new and creative ways to put off paying public pension debt, causing a greater financial burden for future taxpayers.

At any given time, the state’s backlog of unpaid bills tops more than $1 billion, causing doctors and other health care providers to wait months for reimbursement from the state when they care for Medicaid patients.

For the last five years, the governor and lawmakers postured over the details of a capital construction plan, failing to ever implement a new one necessary for road and school construction.

That governor, Rod Blagojevich, is as likely to fill out top-tier positions in his administration with political hacks as opposed to professionals with meaningful, relevant experience.

That same governor has no qualms with putting the full force of this taxpayer-paid staff behind his latest feel-good, politically charged initiative, yet he seldom puts even a fraction of this emphasis behind follow-through and completion of such projects.

Yet the Pew Center on the States awarded Illinois a perfectly acceptable “C” grade in a report covering how well the 50 states manage their money, people, information and infrastructure. A summary of the group’s report, showing how Illinois compares to other states, is here.

A detailed look at Illinois is here.

The Blagojevich administration has been troubled from the start, and the consequences for Illinois government have been serious. The administration began with high hopes: Blagojevich’s election victory in 2002, bringing his party control over all three branches and replacing a Republican regime tainted by corruption, generated widespread interest in bringing the state’s shaky management into good shape. But intraparty battles have continually stymied progress. Political disagreements have been delaying a new infrastructure-spending plan for years, to cite just one example, and the state may soon lose federal matching funds intended for roads and bridges.

Then, the report cuts the governor some slack:

It can’t be easy to manage a state such as Illinois, with huge outstanding bills and troubled revenue streams. But when the state’s leaders are effectively stuck in the mud, the difficult becomes all but impossible. Last year, the governor proposed a major expansion of health care supported by a gross receipts tax on business. The House rejected the plan 107-0. “We weren’t even talking about coming to some resolution,” says state Senator Christine Radagno. Months later, the legislature passed its own budget, Blagojevich vetoed about $500 million of it to make room for his health care expansion and the whole mess wound up in the courts.

Still, as the Post-Dispatch notes, this state’s grade fell:

Illinois fell from a C+ to a C, ranking it among the bottom nine states. Researchers blamed a dysfunctional relationship between Gov. Rod Blagojevich and the state Legislature.

“The Blagojevich administration has been troubled from the start, and the consequences for Illinois government have been serious,” the report says.

The administration’s response:

Blagojevich’s office released a statement saying the report didn’t acknowledge Illinois’ success at improving efficiency while reducing debt and budget deficits.

“Unfortunately, the Pew Center chose to focus on politics instead of fiscal facts,” the statement said. “The report does not accurately reflect the progress we’ve made.”

That’s classic Blagojevich.

First of all, this administration is notorious for skewing financial figures. Rather than stating the amount of new money the state sends to schools each, for instance, this administration prefers to state the sum of all the increases occurring since Blagojevich took office in 2003. Obviously, that’s a much bigger, more dramatic, number.

Oh, and when the state ran the biggest deficit in the nation, Blagojevich — who happened to be campaigning for re-election at the time, in 2006 — insisted that simply wasn’t possible. The “fiscal facts” in Illinois are sad indeed.

Second of all, as I already alluded to above, this administration also is notorious for putting politics before policy. And that’s not to say they even do well at that. Look no further than today’s headlines.

Illinois should be thrilled with its passing grade. I’m wondering how it did so well.