By Charlotte Haines, Special to South Jersey Sunday
In the almost two months since Gov. Chris Christie first announced his support of a proposal to merge Rutgers University in Camden with Rowan University, more questions than answers have been raised about the impact this merger will have on not just the South Jersey region, but the state as a whole.
My issues with the merger are actually issues that U.S. Sen. Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J., raised in a letter to Christie in mid-February.
According to news accounts, the senator questioned what would happen to all of the Rutgers facilities in South Jersey, not just the Camden campus. Rutgers University and the School of Environmental and Biological Sciences (formerly Cook College) run a Cooperative Extension program in every county in New Jersey that provides local residents with agriculture resources, 4-H programs, and resource management, among other invaluable resources.
Rutgers also runs a food innovation program in Bridgeton and the Pinelands Field Station in New Lisbon. The Jacques Cousteau National Estuarine Research Reserve is administered by Rutgers University’s Institute for Marine and Coastal Sciences.
All of these centers and outreach programs are invaluable resources to not just South Jersey, but to all of New Jersey.
I find the lack of answers to these valid questions since February deplorable.
More>>
