Rutgers favors the long-dead over its loan-battered living

Yes, we routinely give Rutgers University’s administration a healthy dose of grief here at Save Jersey.

Don’t feel bad; it’s all well deserved.

Taking hundreds of millions of dollars in tax dollars to transform a legendary, historic institution into a liberal think tank is an act worth of derision. I’m also an alumnus of the Rutgers system (its law school), so I’d kind of like to see it stop the long, painful slide into something we’re not going to recognize if this crap keeps up.

collegeIt was around this time last year that the fiscally-challenged university somehow found the time and money to invest in combating privilege and lamenting its association with long-dead Rutgers founders who displaced Native Americans and, at least in one case, owned slaves.

A committee was formed (because that’s how adults deal with their problems), and the results of Rutgers’ introspective journey were released last Friday and can be found over at the cleverly-branded scarletandblack.rutgers.edu.

“Many of the truths reported in this work are complicated and uncomfortable and there will be much discussion about how the university moves forward with this new knowledge,” Chancellor Richard L. Edwards explained in a blast e-mail.

‘Move forward’ to what, exactly? Your guess is as good as mine. The website’s recommendations don’t exactly correlate to anything of value for current students which, frankly, isn’t surprising. Throughout all my years of confronting the P.C. culture, folks, I’ve yet to get a coherent explanation as to what dwelling on the past – and attempting to transfer culpability to living descendants of the long dead – is supposed to accomplish. It always seems to be more about justifying one group’s prejudices and keeping another faction’s lawyers busy.

But while we’re at it, can I nominate another disadvantaged population for consideration? One that’s far larger (and more alive) than anything discussed over at the ‘Scarlet and Black’ website?

RU President Barchi (right) is responsible for all of this nonsense.
RU President Barchi (right) is responsible for all of this nonsense.

I’m talking about Rutgers University’s loan-saddled student body.

Last July, the Center for American Progress (a ‘non-partisan’ think tank, like Rutgers?) discovered how twenty U.S. college systems combined to account for a whopping one-fifth of all federal student loan debt for 2013-2014.

#19 on that list? Rutgers, the only public institution to make the top 20.

RU also has one of the nation’s highest tuition rates among public schools.

Considered together with New Jersey’s high cost of living (the vast majority of RU’s attendees are in-staters) and years of high mal-employment rates (graduates obtaining jobs that don’t utilize their degrees), any honest observer must at least begin to wonder how in the hell the Rutgers Administration can justify its apparent decision to prioritize angst for the long-dead over the very real struggles facing tens of thousands of living, breathing, paying students.

Where’s the committee to review costs?

And determine how to devote more resources to stopping tuition spikes for Middle Class students?

Particularly those whose parents unwittingly pay the taxes which subsidize the university’s pining over its past?

Something to ponder over your drumsticks and mash potatoes this week (particularly if you’re paying loans for a Rutgers education, or have been solicited for a donation at any point in the near past).

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Matt Rooney
About Matt Rooney 8403 Articles
MATT ROONEY is SaveJersey.com's founder and editor-in-chief, a practicing New Jersey attorney, and the host of 'The Matt Rooney Show' on 1210 WPHT every Sunday evening from 7-10PM EST.