MSU's President's Advisory Council met last week. Here's some good news. We can be prudently optimistic about Montana's universities. We'll never be Berkeley, Cal Tech, or Chicago, but we can find highly productive niches that make sense for our region. The suggestion I offered at the meeting follows, but first I'll provide some context.

I was a graduate student at Indiana University. I first visited MSU in 1967 when I was studying the economics of the Hutterites. At IU, attention was focused on the destructive antics of SDS, the Weathermen, and various factions of the Black Panthers. Lives were threatened and three arsons violated the main library.

I believed, erroneously, that major American universities would become like Latin American universities with floating cadres of 30+-year-old Marxist grad students. I wanted no part of this chaos and intellectual dishonesty. MSU was a welcome change.

In that era, the most compelling problem at MSU was the rowdy behavior of the rodeo team. Whatever they did, the rodeo team had no interest in keeping others from their work. I decided to forego opportunities at better-known universities and teach here.

This, ultimately, was an excellent choice.

I had the great good fortune of having several nationally prominent public choice economists on my Ph.D. committee and I worked under a leading environmental policy analyst for my NSF post-doc. They all cautioned me against coming here. Why? I'd throw away a potentially promising career.

In an effort to dissuade me, one professor asked a telling question: "After whom are the university's buildings named?" I didn't know but inquired on my next visit.

I discovered MSU's buildings were named for former university administrators. My professor found the answer chilling and asserted that this is a very bad sign, at best a strong indicator of mediocrity. He asserted that university buildings should bear the names of highly successful alumni/ae or benefactors, e.g. Hawes Hall (Harvard Business School), the Huntsman Environmental Research Center (Utah State), Carnegie (Carnegie-Mellon), the Eccles Institute of Human Genetics (University of Utah), the Fuqua School of Business (Duke), etc. He explained that at top schools, fellowships and endowed chairs, not buildings, are named to honor distinguished professors and administrators. My interviews at other schools, e.g. Yale, confirmed his observation.

The politics and relative poverty of Montana guarantee no substantial increase in public investment in higher education. In fact, the region's universities are undergoing reductions in state funding. Yet it's clear that education and entrepreneurship are essential to a secure and prosperous future. This tension presents an opportunity for constructive change.

The current economic slowdown places great strains on state budgets and leads to cuts in higher ed. Hence, the likely trend is toward private-sector funding for capital improvements at universities. We will see more university buildings renamed for successful alumns and private benefactors, and few, if any, for professors and administrators. Truly distinguished members of this latter class would be honored by endowed chairs, fellowships in their name, etc. In Montana, MSU could lead this trend.

First the University must make a conscious decision to identify noteworthy buildings in need of renovation: e.g., Herrick Hall, built in 1926. This was originally constructed for home economics: nutrition, child and family, and clothing and textiles.

Second, MSU needs to systematically seek out and court: a) successful alumni/ae; b) wealthy people with an interest in the area, and bring them into the university community; c) parents of substantial means whose kids attend(ed) MSU; and d) people or organizations who have moved here and have demonstrated the capacity and willingness to support educational institutions elsewhere. This would provide an opportunity for wealthy immigrants to integrate with and demonstrate their commitment to the community.

For example, clothing magnate and Montana ranch owner Liz Claiborne has established foundations. They exemplify ideal candidates to fund Herrick Hall's renovation and renaming, and their $70-million corpus permits such worthy donations.

Expanding MSU's capital funding base demands creativity. This is required to create a better future for the University and its students. Success will contribute to the growth and progress of Bozeman and the entire region. Clearly, successful universities will reduce their dependence on the vagaries of state funding. For capital projects, this renovation and renaming option offers a promising opportunity.