Down River 3/11

By John Lipez

Lots of Questions:
Answers, not so much.
We’re talking about the “integration” of Lock Haven University, Bloomsburg University and Mansfield University. That process is well underway, driven by a shrinking base of young people from which to draw students, not helped by shrinking financial support from Harrisburg.

Demographers had warned us for some time that Pennsylvania is an aging state, that there would be considerably fewer prospective college students as the years passed. No argument here on that one. If you follow these things, you’re aware the Keystone Central School District had more than 8,000 students in the 1980s; as of last month, the combined enrollment within Keystone Central, including Sugar Valley Rural Charter School, was 4,074. That is a precipitous drop and certainly a factor in the long overdue consolidation of Keystone Central schools which occurred in the southern half of Clinton County a quarter of a century ago.

There were many among us who decried that consolidation, the bringing together of Lock Haven, Bald Eagle-Nittany and Sugar Valley High Schools. That was a difficult decision to be made, but one that had to be made.

Here we are, 25 years later and Lock Haven University is looking at a similar set of circumstances. From an enrollment high of over 5,000 not too long ago to a drop of several thousand in recent years.

In a perfect world, LHU would still have an enrollment of better than 5,000, still offering a reasonably priced education for those looking to improve themselves academically in a safe, bucolic setting in a charming small town along the Susquehanna River.

But any such growth has not been happening for a few years. In the meantime the State System of Higher Education had to take a hard look at the demographics written about above and make some hard decisions (and a yearlong struggle with COVID-19 hasn’t helped the offering of post-high school education at LHU and elsewhere).

So the state system went out and brought in a chancellor with no pre-conceived notions but saw more than a few state-owned schools struggling to maintain their viability in a challenging environment.

Bottom line, the integration is going to happen. Where Lock Haven University shakes down in all this remains to be determined. But there will changes, there will be fewer on-campus course offerings and majors and there will be, certainly short term, fewer local residents earning a pay check at LHU.

This “integration” will be difficult for many, costly for many. We can only hope the state system movers-and-shakers make this transition as pain-free as possible for those to lose their livelihoods.

In the meantime, we await answers to our many questions. Will LHU remain a viable four-year institution with master degree opportunities? Will its renowned physician-assistant program remain intact and grow and flourish? And its identity: what will the new name be? What will LHU be called in the future? From Central State Normal School to Lock Haven State Teachers College to Lock Haven State College to Lock Haven University; that’s a lot revision over 150 years as the school’s mission has evolved.

Updates from those involved dub the consolidation of LHU, Bloom and Mansfield as the “Northeastern integration” and say a branding and marketing firm, Ologie, has been brought on board to assist with a name aligning “with the goals of integration; retaining the name, brand and historic identity of the universities.”

Hmmm, an outside marketing firm trying to meld the names of three schools geographically more north-central PA than northeastern PA, that’s a challenge.

When the afore mentioned LHHS, BEN, Sugar Valley consolidation took place, it did not take big bucks to an outside consultant to come up with Central Mountain High School. The kids involved made that decision and Central Mountain it is, adequate for a school that sits near the center of the state and certainly among the mountains (just a personal preference note here: they could have done better than the oft used Wildcats as a nickname and I would have used purple and black as the school colors, but that’s just me).

There is precedent for this naming matter at state schools. In Vermont, two state-owned, small liberal arts schools, Johnson State College and Lyndon State College were recently conjoined under the name Northern Vermont University.

The NVU folks bill the new operation as “one strong university with two distinct campuses, a single institution of higher education.” Check their online postings and you’ll find “Look North and you’ll see our story. The story of how two strong colleges whose long histories educating thinkers and leaders who have shaped Vermont, New England, and beyond, have come together to create something truly new.”

And the two schools have been able to keep their identities relative to athletics, both Johnson and Lyndon continuing to function in the NCAA’s Division III. Here’s how that looks in sport stories with the new names: “The Northern Vermont University – Johnson men’s basketball team won Friday night…” A little wordy, don’t you think? That name would be tough to get on a sweatshirt but the Johnson and Lyndon schools do continue to exist so there’s something to be said for that.

So buckle your old LHSTC chin strap and hold on. Where this ends up is to be determined. There will still be something up there at “the college intersection.” But right now, it’s TBD.