  (From this week's urlLink Independent Letters To The Editor ) Dear Editor; Yes, to paraphrase Shakespeare, something is indeed rotten in the state of Denmark. I refer to the sudden, misguided and self-serving proposal by the Board of Trustees, headed up by President David Steinberg and his henchmen, to close the undergraduate program of Long Island University’s Southampton College. It’s no secret now that the board, citing financial losses over “many years,” has decided to terminate all but the minuscule graduate programs and move all undergraduate programs to the C. W. Post Campus. What is still a secret is the board’s thought process over the time leading up to the move, the real reasons for the purported $9,000,000.00 loss in the last academic year (the board has stated simply that declining enrollment is the culprit) and what actions were taken, to enhance enrollment and generate capital, before we arrived at this point.
What has become obvious is that the announced closing reeks of being a carefully calculated plan by some of the Board of Trustees to satisfy their agenda of liquefying their assets and drawing as little attention to themselves as possible. Before the ink was dry on the press release, we came to find out that the board curiously retained a group of real estate professionals to appraise the campus property to see how much it would garner on the open (and very lucrative) market. (Since this revelation, the sharks have been circling, as several different scenarios have been alluded to by various groups, all of which accomplish the board’s agenda: to fragment, spin off or sub-divide the property for purely financial gain.
) Timing-wise, it’s not surprising that the University waited until 95% of the students had gone home, some hundreds and thousands of miles away, where they could offer little in the way of organized rebuttal or resistance. Throw in the U. S. Open, when virtually the entire area was caught up in a mania of a different kind, and you have the perfect distraction for Steinberg’s dog-and-pony show to roll into town — good timing indeed! Rather than spending his days looking for ways to clean up his financial mess and keep the college open, Steinberg seems to find the need to rationalize his and the board’s misguided decision. At a recent function held at Southampton College to honor the president of the Peconic Land Trust, John Halsey, as the college’s man of the year for his many accomplishments in land preservation, Steinberg chose to spend most of the time at the microphone defending his and the board’s decision to close the college and sell off the assets, rather than pay tribute to the guest of honor. Was this his sly way of telling Peconic Land Trust that the college property was up for grabs and they could have it if the price was right?
Or was this, in light of dissenting public opinion that was growing by the minute, merely his guilty conscience showing through? Needless to say, more than a few were offended by his disrespectful monologue that took away from Mr. Halsey’s evening. Curiously (and admirably), another board member, Harry Marmion, stepped to the microphone, unscripted, and made it clear to the crowd that not all was as it seemed, that he and some other board members did not feel the same as Steinberg. Stay tuned. I happened to be with a number of Southampton students, freshmen, sophomores and juniors, the night of the devastating announcement.
A sense of shock and sadness, accompanied by a fair share of tears, pervaded the room, but what was most disheartening to me was the looks of helplessness, fear and disbelief that their college — their college! — could betray them in such a way. These were kids who just 24 hours earlier knew that they had found an academic, artistic and social environment where they could thrive, develop and give back to a community that many of them fell in love with at first sight. To see this type of enthusiasm and vibrancy struck down by a few people who forsook the human element in favor of the bottom line was devastating to me, and truly unconscionable. These students made a commitment to the college and the college made a commitment to them. The Board of Trustees, in my view, has an obligation to these students. The offer to relocate them to C. W. Post or to offer academic counseling does not offset the issues of incompatibility in program offerings (last I checked, Post does not have a nationally recognized Marine Science program, probably the biggest draw at Southampton), lost athletic scholarships (what happens to the students who can’t afford to lose that money when Post can’t absorb them on their teams? ) or lost transfer credits and money for students who don’t want to move to Post, students who are better suited to a smaller, more rural setting, to name a few.
The Board of Trustees, thus far, has failed miserably in addressing these issues. The economic impact on the East End, particularly Southampton Town, will be staggering. The College is a significant source of employment, with many administrators, faculty and staff residing locally. The many local organizations who benefit from the numerous co-op placements from the college will be devastated. Local merchants, restaurants, pizzerias and such look to the college crowd for a needed financial “shot in the arm” during the long winter months that fill the gap between seasons. Were any of these points considered before the Board of Trustees lowered the boom on 1,200+ students and thousands of residents who will be directly affected? It doesn’t seem likely. Culturally, the area stands to lose a potential art gallery, a theater group that produces both Broadway and student authored plays, a location for events such as The All for the Sea Concert, Meet the Writers, Pianofest, the Master Theater Class with Alec Baldwin, lecture series’ by area writers and scientists and much more. As for the environment, the East End will lose a great resource and a center for research that in the past has provided valuable insight into the brown tide outbreaks that plagued the local waters.
College co-op students and graduates have worked with local foundations in the areas of endangered species, particularly the piping plover, and the rescue and rehabilitation of sea turtles, seals and other sea mammals. These losses, in an area like the East End that truly reflects a fine arts and liberal arts philosophy, would be most tragic.
Here are some things for the Board of Trustees of Long Island University to address, ponder and try to explain to its students and the community at large before following through with their plan (many of us in the community have already done so): 1) Southampton College lost $9 million in the last academic year and $77 million overall? As a recent graduate of Southampton College, my tuition as a full time student was around $23,000 annually, WITHOUT room and board, student activities fees and whatever miscellaneous fees they managed to add on. That would be around $31,000 for the average student staying on campus. While the campus is nice, it is modest in what it has to offer, much more modest than that of C. W. Post, yet their overall tuition is LESS than Southampton’s. We pay more money for less, yet we can’t seem to balance the books. Someone at the college, purportedly in the know, related to me that it was his understanding that the tuition proceeds from LIU’s campuses are pooled, averaged then distributed and the college gets back less than the original $31,000 paid by the student.
This would explain a lot. Are the Post and Brooklyn campuses financially healthy? Please, Dr. Steinberg, correct me if my figures are wrong. A lot of very interested people would like to know the truth. 2) Here’s my thoughts on declining enrollment. It doesn’t happen overnight. Neither does increased enrollment. The University set out a year or so ago to address the enrollment issue by revamping departments and curriculums in order to make Southampton a more appealing option to potential incoming freshmen. I must say, in my last semester, I didn’t see any tangible evidence indicating that this plan was in place, but that also doesn’t mean it wasn’t.
In any event, a year plus does not seem like enough time to wait to see the fruits of your labors. Who decided to throw in the towel? 3) Other than the aforementioned efforts, what else has been done to attract potential students? Being a married father of two, Southampton was an attractive option for me, logistically (certainly not financially) speaking, as I needed to remain close to home while I completed my degree.
Gee, I wonder if there are others out there like me? Why hasn’t the University aggressively targeted my demographic, the adult wishing to complete a four-year program close to home? For many of us non-traditional students on the East End, Southampton is the only viable option. How about a tuition discount for parents who wish to return to school? Relax pencil-pushers, the discounts would be made up over time with the increased enrollment. Other colleges on the Island use radio and print ad campaigns to help recruit new students, young and old.
I can’t remember the last ad of this nature I’ve seen that came from Southampton. Or how about an alliance with the Riverhead Campus of Suffolk County Community College, maybe develop continuing programs that compliment the Associates degree and give those students a local option? “Build it, and they will come.” 4) Has the Board of Trustees enlisted any help or insight from local, county, state or federal agencies, if not for outright financial assistance than for leadership and guidance? It’s not embarrassing to ask for help when you need it. Surely Southampton isn’t the first educational institution to find themselves in dire straits, and I doubt they’ll be the last. If politicians and governing bodies have not been enlisted to this point by the trustees, I assure you they will be by the community.
I am not naive. I realize that a private university is a business, and as such, money needs to be made. Strong financial leadership is important, and many if not most of the Board of Trustees have backgrounds in the financial sector — investment firms, banking, etc. This fact is reassuring, and at the same time troubling to me. I fear that the art of making money has (or will soon have) transcended the art of education.
We as a society need to build more institutions that provide fertile ground for learning and the opportunity for the individual to grow. Funny, but we already have one of those places right here. Right between Montauk Highway and County Road 39 in Southampton. Let’s not let such a good head start go to waste. If this letter seems written only out of bitterness, I assure you it is not. I graduated from Southampton in December 2003. While there, I had nothing but positive experiences. The faculty and staff were knowledgeable, understanding and cooperative. I met many incredible people there, faculty, staff and students alike, and I carry those friendships beyond college. It would be an incredible waste to let everything that took so long to build come crashing down, all because of a few individuals who have lost sight of what really makes a college a successful entity — not the bottom line, but the people. MARK E. STRECKER 
