Rutgers-Camden Law community responds to takeover proposal | camlaw.rutgers.edu: "Rutgers-Camden Law community responds to takeover proposal
On Jan. 25, 2012, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie accepted and endorsed the final report of the UMDNJ Advisory Committee which recommended, among other things, that Rutgers-Camden be merged into Rowan University. The entire Rutgers-Camden community, including the Rutgers School of Law in Camden, stands opposed to the proposed takeover of Rutgers-Camden.
We welcome the greater resources and autonomy that have long been withheld from Rutgers-Camden, and which the Advisory Committee’s proposal seeks to provide. We believe, however, that these goals can be achieved more effectively and efficiently through a mutually beneficial partnership with Rowan, in which both Rutgers-Camden and Rowan maintain their distinct identities, and Rutgers-Camden remains part of Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey."
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George, the whole issue is confusing to me. What's at stake? Why should this matter to anyone (other than people in NJ who are comfortable with the current arrangement)?
ReplyDeleteJohn Steele
John -
ReplyDeleteLaw schools and therefore lawyers suffer from creeping status consciousness. When I turned down Berkeley, BU and BC 42 years ago and chose Rutgers-Newark rank did not exist and was not part of my calculus. And it was not part of my professional life (as a New Jersey lawyer) until I started looking for academic work. But now worrying about it is part of the zeitgeist. So the move is seen as a threat to Rutgers rank.
It is also the case that Chris Christie is roundly disliked among lawyers, so that adds a layer. Chris Christie ran on an austerity plan. The restructuring of the state universities might be well received if it were part of a big commitment to public universities. But it is mostly reshuffling the deck - and the existing money.
But in the end: all politics is local.