Dear editor:
I approached the service desk of a government building today and the person helping me mentioned a topic that launched me on a diatribe that surprised both of us. The person said, …
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Dear editor:
I approached the service desk of a government building today and the person helping me mentioned a topic that launched me on a diatribe that surprised both of us. The person said, “Well I guess we’re going to have to say goodbye to Northwest College.” With alarm I wondered aloud what she could be talking about. Has there been an announcement about closing the doors of the college? Are things so bad there that they’ve decided to give up? She said, “I guess they’re going to change the name to Yellowstone College.”
I spontaneously jumped on my soap box and, after what seemed like an inappropriately long time, had to stop myself. Without repeating that long speech I will just hit the highlights. First, I qualified my comments by describing my experiences at Northwest, beginning in 1967 as a college freshman and concluding with my retirement in 2003 after a 31-year career teaching there. Then I mentioned the previous name-change that didn’t change much of anything, which I opposed at the time. I charged onward to bemoan the enrollment history of the college, starting with around 400 students when I first arrived, then the pinnacle of around 2,400 during my career, then the downward spiral to its present total around 1,400. In that time the number of faculty followed that trend.
I challenged the sentiment that has prevented moving ahead with a name change in the face of declining enrollments and the loss to the community that has enjoyed Northwest for so many years. To me the name of an institution, or a business for that matter, says much about what is possible and what to expect. I told her that social forces have moved public attitudes away from thinking that going to college was the only pathway to success and I mentioned that the college is trying hard to attract nontraditional students who don’t want a liberal education, although I could go on and on about the value of that to society in general.
Then I wrapped my tirade up with my experience over the years of trying to attract friends and relatives to Northwest as I embedded that name in a short list of nine others that always included Yellowstone College. Not once did anyone say Northwest looks interesting. Also, never did they not inquire about Yellowstone College. I’m not wondering why. I do wonder what would be wrong with a billion dollars’ worth of free advertising. I then appologized to others waiting and exited.
Scott Feyhl
Powell