Primary campus needs should go before HPC needs

posted in: Opinion | 0

Since when does a secondary branch come before the needs of the primary campus?

Apparently, since 2013, in regards to the state of Pacific University.

University President Lesley Hallick and her many boards are making moves to reinvent the Hillsboro campus. HPC3 has overwhelmed Pacific’s administration, which is now facing decisions that require choosing between updating venues such as the army barracks, otherwise known as Warner Hall and Brown Hall, or building sparkling, new, energy-efficient science facilities.

The science department has been receiving upgrades for more than 20 years. The arts facilities on Pacific’s central campus in Forest Grove haven’t been majorly updated since 1965, when the theatre was remodeled and renamed the Tom Miles Theatre.

Hallick explained that the university is budgeting other departments and resources on the Forest Grove campus in order to afford the new buildings in Hillsboro.

Joe Lang, director of media relations for the university, said they were not even 50 percent of the way done with fundraising for the project.

With so much money still left to raise, it seems like Pacific’s art facilities are looking at another long stretch without even being touched by the administration.

Pacific is lacking the resources to put out the quality education it preaches it has for arts students. Members of the theatre department on campus, who wish to remain nameless for concern of backlash from the administration, have complained that the facilities do not stand up against other programs around the conference.

Additionally, on tours, they said they were led to believe that they would be performing in the much newer Taylor-Meade Performing Arts Center.

This illusion was quickly recognized and shattered after enrolling in Pacific. These students are still operating out of the bottom of the barrel, and paying nearly $40,000 a year to do so.

Everything on campus has been put ahead of remodeling these facilities.

It’s time for a wake-up call. A change. Someone needs to stand up and shout until this change is achieved.

These students are paying good money for a quality education. While the faculty remains above average, the facilities are poor. A science classroom cannot perform with outdated equipment. And a stellar performance is hindered when audience members are subjected to an eyesore of a theatre.

To put it bluntly, we have the second oldest college on the west coast, and I speak on behalf of the student population when I say, “It doesn’t have to look like the oldest.”

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