Why Is the University of North Dakota at Grand Forks Dying?

See here for the link to an essay about this topic and some excerpts. The author of the essay is a member of the English department, and she complains bitterly about the austerity that hit a few years ago when oil prices went down. Yet, she acknowledges that there is now a boom in North Dakota that is outpacing the previous boom, so why is there still austerity on her campus? Something is being left out. Maybe it’s because the university took a stand against fracking and the state legislature didn’t like it?

Comments

[J. Reed Anderson]

UND was once a D-1 powerhouse and had very reputable law and medical schools, but since the end of the cold war Grand Forks has been in decline. The Air Force base there was a B-52 base, and Grand Forks a metropolitan area; its Columbia Mall was a destination for folks two and a half hours in any direction but south (Grand Forks is less than an hour north of Fargo, which has its West Gate Mall). The Columbia Mall is virtually empty. Fargo has now surpassed Grand Forks. UND also humiliated itself about ten years back when it appeased a bunch of white Indians and replaced the Fighting Sioux with the Fighting Hawks. Grand Forks is diminishing and Fargo expanding and the universities reflect this.

[John Pepple]

Thanks. That explains things. But doesn't it have an important aviation program?

[J. Reed Anderson]

You're right, indeed it does, and is one of the best in the nation from what I've read. And then there's Grand Sky, a drone facility, and it's just outside the Air Force base. They've got what I think is a Predator on a pedestal out front. Northrop Grumman in there.

[Charles N. Steele]

What I liked is how merciless the comments are. Also there's this:

https://www.christopherfountain.com/blog/2019/10/13/well-good

It appears that the university is cutting fluff and nonsense. But if they cut their aviation and space programs and retain their scholars in "lesbian readers," let's hope the whole thing goes broke ASAP.