URA members say:
“The Presidential Search representatives were on the Camden campus yesterday and many in attendance voiced concerns about the rumored splitting of the University. In addition to the need for settling labor contracts to retain quality workers and faculty, the mergers were the hottest topic of discussion.
“In Camden, the consensus is that, in the absence of real investment, our campus will not grow to the size of Newark so our voices will not be heard, let alone respected. Rutgers had the opportunity to partner with the UMDNJ medical school in Camden but declined because it wanted the medical school to be in New Brunswick. Now it has the opportunity to get what it wanted so it might as well, or our loss was for nothing. That decision was indicative of the general attitude toward the Camden campus, and we are not unaware of it.
“However, all here acknowledge that only the Rutgers name brings the quality of teachers and students we have on this campus in this city with its terrible reputation. Without the name ‘Rutgers,’ it is feared this campus will take many years to recover from the loss of faculty, students and staff – if it ever does. We feel that if the powers that be decide to divest itself from Camden, it should do so from Newark as well — focus entirely on the New Brunswick/Piscataway campus, but call itself ‘Rutgers University’ instead. ‘The State University of New Jersey’ should be dropped if it chooses to eliminate the campus that makes its education and research accessible to the entire southern half of this state. Or, if it retains Newark, call it ‘Rutgers, The State University of North Jersey.’
“That being said, it is our hope that those in power recognize the value of both the Camden and Newark campuses, and commit to making the quality of these campuses on par with that of the main campus, so a Rutgers education is accessible to the entire state. This campus is proud to be, and we wish to continue being, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey.”