Once again the state of Idaho has played to the ego of Boise State President Bob Kustra using the State Board of Education as the vessel to push petty agendas.
Milford Terrell, a Boise State alumnus and member of the SBOE, proposed to omit “flagship” from the University of Idaho’s mission statement. The SBOE unanimously and foolishly approved the change Thursday — a change that was not presented to the public for feedback.
Removal of the term from our mission statement is purely political, as evidenced by not obtaining input from the public and minimal conversation among board members prior to the vote.
UI is the flagship institution of Idaho, and that will never change. We were the first in the state and under the Morrill Act of 1862, which established UI as a land-grant institution, we will always hold that title. To remove it from our mission statement is a trivial plea from a president whose school will never be recognized as the flagship of Idaho.
Terrell said the proposal was made because the term has a negative connotation toward other institutions in the state and is politically incorrect. This is not the first time BSU’s ego has been bruised — it seems the institution has a touch of little man syndrome.
But the SBOE’s to support sets a new low for the importance of education in the state. Its apparent members do not care about issues surrounding education that truly matter, such as the complete lack of funding and dismal state of public schools, when they waste their time on petty terminology.
Members of the SBOE need to re-evaluate their positions, and remember what role they are supposed to play for all educational programs in the entire state of Idaho. Eliminating bullshit conversations about political correctness is a good place to start.