We are scarcely one community, but several: a town itself divided, and divided again from the campus in its very midst.
Whitewater has fourteen thousand residents, and of that latest number, a few thousand are college student residents. Out total population would be noticeably lower without those university students.
Our local society and economy depend mightily on the university. Our small city would be ruined without the campus; the loss of that many people, vibrant and creative, would sink Whitewater. The campus will not move, of course. The point I wish to make is that we’d collapse as a local economy without the university.
There is more to the campus, though, than dollars-and-cents. Our small society is larger — actually and figuratively — with the campus here in town. The natural vigor and energy of the university prevents Whitewater from ossifying. We’d be closer to a small, stagnant community without the campus. It is our competitive advantage, in so many ways, if only we would direct this unique opportunity toward a better relationship.