Views of a student leader

Whether you’re a reader who cheers the months of aggressive newspaper reporting and commentary about the multimillion-dollar budget deficit at the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville, or sees that ongoing effort in an entirely different light, there’s little question that many who work and attend classes on the Hill have some strong opinions on the matter.

For example, Bo Renner, the student body president at UA-Fayetteville, recently sent me a message saying he’d been attempting for weeks to have his views heard amid the sustained clamor surrounding the budget shortfall. “I’m really proud of this place. I worry that our state reads some of that stuff and must think things are falling apart up here, which is just so untrue,” he wrote.

So I invited Bo, a senior, to send along his essay and said I’d be willing to let the state hear his views in the space I’m allotted as an independent personal opinion columnist.

After all, as the head of the Associated Student Government, I believe ol’ Bo has earned legitimate standing at our premiere land-grant institution.

Here’s a lightly edited version of what he says he’s wanted to share under his headline, “The Soaring Flagship.” -

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“It seems there’s always that point on an airplane when the kid behind you keeps kicking your seat so hard for so long that you have to say something. In many ways, this is where I am at as the student body president at the University of Arkansas. I’m sick of students being kicked and I am done being quiet.

“As coverage of the budget deficit within the Advancement Division at the University of Arkansas Fayetteville has continued over the past several months, I believe some at our state newspaper have viciously attacked our state’s flagship institution, or what they dubbed ‘UA-F,’ (for Fayetteville, I’m assuming) in a seemingly forced and oddly vitriolic manner that reads like a personal vendetta. While I’m not in the business of selling newspapers, I am in the business of standing up for students, particularly and especially when their degrees are being devalued by the use of spiteful language to describe our state’s largest and most respected university.

“I’m no journalist, but I always believed a key component of a reporter’s job is to gather facts and report them to the public,” Bo continues. “And because the University of Arkansas, which they [editorially] refer to as the“sinking flagship,” seems to be a significant story these days, I thought I’d mention some relevant facts they failed to address:

“Five years ago, 19,200 students were enrolled here. This fall: 25,431, making us the 13th fastest-growing institution in the entire country. Over 43 percent of the incoming freshman class had GPAs of 3.75 or higher. A record 18 percent of the incoming freshman class had a score of 30 or higher on the ACT. We set a self-record of 45 invention disclosures this year. Graduation rates exceeded 60 percent for the first time-the highest in the state. For three straight years, we’ve fundraised over $100 million annually, arguably putting us in the best financial shape in school history.

“In 2011, we were one of 108 schools nationwide to be elevated to the highest possible research status by the Carnegie Foundation. The School of Law jumped to its highest ranking in school history. And the UA has been named as one of nine up-and-coming public universities by U.S. News and World Report.

“In short, I wanted to clear the air and inform Razorbacks, past, present and future of the realities. While they’ve been publishing negative pieces, we’ve been publishing research. While they’ve been busy attacking our school, we’ve been attracting the brightest students to it. And we’ll continue to set records in retention and research.

“Whether it is through ignorance of facts, or a sincere disregard of them, it seems there is failure to report on some of the most exceptional students in the country here at the university. These students don’t achieve for the sake of recognition. But that does not mean they are undeserving of it. I’m not asking anyone at the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette to disregard bits and pieces of factual news concerning this institution. I am asking that it also doesn’t disregard facts and noteworthy accomplishments.

“I really do appreciate and respect the journalism profession … just not when it’s done at the expense of students.Reading the paper as a student and a third-generation Razorback is degrading nowadays; not only to me, but to my constituents, classmates, and the entire Razorback community.

“Quite simply: The U of A is not sinking. It is soaring. So, while I don’t know what’s going on at ‘UA-F,’ here at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, we’re doing just fine.”

Why do I have a feeling that outspoken Bo Renner is a young man about whom we’ll be hearing more in years to come?

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Mike Masterson’s column appears regularly in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. Email him at mikemasterson10@hotmail.com. Read his blog at mikemastersonsmessenger.com.

Editorial, Pages 19 on 11/30/2013

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