President John B. Simpson today rallied community support for the UB 2020 strategic plan, urging an end to the status quo hindering UB’s ability to help revitalize the regional economy and become one of the nation’s premier public research universities.
“We can either choose to maintain the status quo, or we can choose to change our path,” Simpson told an audience of about 500 people attending his fourth annual community address held in historic Asbury Hall in downtown Buffalo. “We either let Albany continue to argue that our universities are ‘good enough,’ or we can recognize and nourish our universities as the catalysts for New York State to regain its position as a fully competitive player in the 21st century global-knowledge economy.”
Choosing the better path will shape the way Western New York and the rest of New York State looks in the year 2020 and beyond, said Simpson. He expressed concern over continued budget cuts and the lack of a state strategy for higher education.
