Now, I would never suggest that athletics should be a top priority of a university president. I don't want to come off as some sort of philistine, but couldn't EMPAC show a movie like "Encanto" every once in a while or host, say, a bluegrass festival? You know, events that would get normies on campus.Īnd speaking of that, let's talk about sports. That's largely because its programming is so darn esoteric. But hardly anybody has ever been in the place. EMPAC, otherwise known as the Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center, is one of the great achievements of Jackson's tenure, a spectacular venue of which any city would be proud. Throw a big party at EMPAC and invite the public to celebrate. Hold a ceremony for the scholarship winners. I know there are more existing connections between RPI and Troy High than people may realize, but highly publicized Collar City Awards - I'm just spit-balling on the name here - could highlight those links while encouraging local kids to think seriously about careers in science or engineering. OK, here's the first idea: Annual scholarships for graduates of Troy and Lansingburgh high schools. If you do mind, well, please understand that I have space to fill and a deadline to meet. And I hope you don't mind if I share a few thoughts on how RPI can change minds about the school and forge a better partnership with the city and the region. You said something similar in a recent interview with Times Union education reporter Kathleen Moore, suggesting that RPI can be for the city and region what MIT has been for Cambridge and greater Boston. City officials say you've been meeting with them, listening and talking about working together. Happily, you're already attempting to change that. And though Jackson didn't seem to think so, perception is important. That isn't to say that Jackson didn't work with the city in all sorts of important ways, but, fairly or not, the perception persists that RPI is a place apart, peering imperiously at Troy from its perch on the hill. She is a brilliant woman, a trailblazer, but she at times had a my-way-or-the-highway approach that alienated people, both on campus and off. For one to thrive, the other also needs to be succeeding.Īs I'm sure you've heard, the relationship between the school and the city was not always great under your predecessor, Shirley Ann Jackson. But the city and its university are intertwined. Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute is first and foremost about educating students and ensuring that their years on campus are the best they can be. That is not your primary concern or responsibility, I know. The renaissance downtown has in some ways masked the ongoing decay of neighborhoods to the north and south. It is easy, as the saying goes, to enjoy Troy.īut not all is great. The downtown waterfront looks better than ever. There's a new energy downtown, with apartments going up and beautiful, older buildings undergoing renovation. Many of the changes have been positive, of course. And I imagine it's vastly different from when you graduated in 1981. The city sure has changed in recent years.
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