GLASSBORO — Rutgers University students, faculty and administrators continued to rally for the survival of the Camden campus, urging lawmakers at a public hearing Monday to reject Gov. Chris Christie’s plan for a takeover by Rowan University.
Lawmakers hearing testimony on the proposal to reorganize New Jersey’s higher education system aren’t sure the merger plan requires their approval.
Christie want to merge parts of Rutgers and Rowan and for parts of the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey to be turned over to Rutgers. A key legal question surrounding Christie’s plan is who has to approve it. Christie would like to accomplish the reorganization by executive order, but members of the Legislature want a vote.
South Jersey Assemblywoman Celeste Riley, a Democrat who chairs the committee, said the issue of legal authority hasn’t been settled. But, Timothy Scott Farrow, a lawyer who is treasurer of the Rutgers Alumni Association, testified that the law clearly requires legislative approval.
“We’re saying the power is in the hands of the Legislature and we’re asking you to use it,” he said.
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