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Actually I don’t think UMASS Amherst was officially designated as the flagship school until the 2000’s. Most states land grant institutions became the public systems flagship anyway though. I’ve never seen anything that indicates UMASS grew as a bone thrown to Western Mass. Would be interesting to see anything that documents that as the case.
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Originally Posted by GeoffD
UMass was under 1,000 ag students until after WW II. In 1945, it had 822 undergrads.
What I said was that in the urban renewal era which is when UMass-Amherst went from a tiny ag school to the flagship state university and when Springfield crashed with white flight and loss of all the manufacturing jobs, there was plenty of space to put UMass in Boston. This was the post-WW II throwing western Mass a bone by converting the Ag school out in the boonies to the flagship state university.
That's not what Connecticut did. Storrs isn't as far from Hartford as Framingham/Southboro are from Boston.
UMass was under 1,000 ag students until after WW II. In 1945, it had 822 undergrads.
What I said was that in the urban renewal era which is when UMass-Amherst went from a tiny ag school to the flagship state university and when Springfield crashed with white flight and loss of all the manufacturing jobs, there was plenty of space to put UMass in Boston. This was the post-WW II throwing western Mass a bone by converting the Ag school out in the boonies to the flagship state university.
That's not what Connecticut did. Storrs isn't as far from Hartford as Framingham/Southboro are from Boston.
Being founded as an agricultural college UMass needed to be located in a rural farming area. The Connecticut River Valley made sense. According to its history, it changed its name to Massachusetts State College in 1931 and then University of Massachusetts in 1947. By 1954 it had 4,000 students. UConn has a similar history. Jay
UMass was under 1,000 ag students until after WW II. In 1945, it had 822 undergrads.
What I said was that in the urban renewal era which is when UMass-Amherst went from a tiny ag school to the flagship state university and when Springfield crashed with white flight and loss of all the manufacturing jobs, there was plenty of space to put UMass in Boston. This was the post-WW II throwing western Mass a bone by converting the Ag school out in the boonies to the flagship state university.
That's not what Connecticut did. Storrs isn't as far from Hartford as Framingham/Southboro are from Boston.
Eh. plenty of space in Boston? Not really. If you knew the history of the area you'd know that the choosing of the site and construction of the campus was a huge issue which led to the inspector generals office being made.
UConn being in Storrs is way, way, way down on the list of CT's problems if it's even a problem at all. The majority of flagship state universities around the country do not have their main campus in large cities. Exceptions being the University Of Minnesota in Minneapolis or the University Of Washington in Seattle and a few others.
I think much of this goes back to our agricultural heritage. In an economy once built on local agriculture far more than it is now, agricultural schools like UConn and UMass growing into the flagship state U was a natural progression. Our economy is so non agrarian now (especially in the northeast) that we don't even realize how different it once was.
Plus as someone pointed out, there's the issue of land or lack thereof in cities vs. places like Storrs and Amherst.
I'd add that even though Storrs is somewhat remote, it's still in a more centralized location in the state than New Haven.
Last edited by ryanthegoldengod; 11-17-2019 at 12:55 PM..
UConn being in Storrs is way, way, way down on the list of CT's problems if it's even a problem at all. The majority of flagship state universities around the country do not have their main campus in large cities. Exceptions being the University Of Minnesota in Minneapolis or the University Of Washington in Seattle and a few others.
I think much of this goes back to our agricultural heritage. In an economy once built on local agriculture far more than it is now, agricultural schools like UConn and UMass growing into the flagship state U was a natural progression. Our economy is so non agrarian now (especially in the northeast) that we don't even realize how different it once was.
Plus as someone pointed out, there's the issue of land or lack thereof in cities vs. places like Storrs and Amherst.
I'd add that even though Storrs is somewhat remote, it's still in a more centralized location in the state than New Haven.
Storrs is not more central than new haven. Even geographically speaking, new haven is closer to the state’s geographic center (berlin/cromwell) than storrs. Now if we’re talking center of commerce/economic activity (weighted geographically) new haven is more central by a long shot. In fact it’s more central than Hartford per that metric, thanks to its proximity to Fairfield county. Storrs isn’t near any industry/commerce centers of note (<30 min) in the state. Plus it’s a good 15 minutes off 84, while New haven is at the junction of 95/91.
Storrs is not more central than new haven. Even geographically speaking, new haven is closer to the state’s geographic center (berlin/cromwell) than storrs. Now if we’re talking center of commerce/economic activity (weighted geographically) new haven is more central by a long shot. In fact it’s more central than Hartford per that metric, thanks to its proximity to Fairfield county. Storrs isn’t near any industry/commerce centers of note (<30 min) in the state. Plus it’s a good 15 minutes off 84, while New haven is at the junction of 95/91.
Yeah, it was always surprising how tough UConn is to get to, even from Hartford. After you get off I-84, the road is super narrow the whole way, not really befitting the entrance to the state's flagship. And, in what used to be my dad's pet peeve, the exit sign doesn't say "Storrs"!
It is unfortunate, but probably true: CT has three top cities: Stamford, New Haven, Hartford. But none of them are so great comparing to NYC or Boston.
Agreed.
I do agree with moving much of UConn downstate, in small stages.
As for marketing Ct as one region, the business community, as evidenced by our lack of job growth, isn't buying that.
Storrs is not more central than new haven. Even geographically speaking, new haven is closer to the state’s geographic center (berlin/cromwell) than storrs. Now if we’re talking center of commerce/economic activity (weighted geographically) new haven is more central by a long shot. In fact it’s more central than Hartford per that metric, thanks to its proximity to Fairfield county. Storrs isn’t near any industry/commerce centers of note (<30 min) in the state. Plus it’s a good 15 minutes off 84, while New haven is at the junction of 95/91.
Why does a college need to be near any industry/commerce centers of note? As a student there, I never felt that was a weakness. The campus was its own little mini-universe and you didn't need much else. Some kids want an urban college vibe, some want the rural college town vibe. If you're the latter, you go to UConn.
Why does a college need to be near any industry/commerce centers of note? As a student there, I never felt that was a weakness. The campus was its own little mini-universe and you didn't need much else. Some kids want an urban college vibe, some want the rural college town vibe. If you're the latter, you go to UConn.
Many universities like to have corporate partners in order to generate donations and to work together on research. Further, if the university has the potential to generate research worthy of spinning off into independent businesses, it's good to be near population and commerce centers to staff and house said spin-offs.
UConn is a research university. As it spins out businesses, it would be beneficial to have them close to the campus in order to create an environment of innovation between the school, it's spin-offs, and other businesses located there.
As someone else noted, many flagship universities are located in more rural areas. The idea of moving an entire university from a rural idea to a more urban one is ridiculous. A major research university is going to be able to attract corporate investment and partnerships if they are doing top notch research regardless of where they are located.
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