There is cause to cheer today as Gov. Deval Patrick yesterday signed the enabling legislation allowing Salem State to achieve the name it has long sought and long ago earned — Salem State University.
There are several reasons why this university designation matters so much to our school and the entire North Shore.
The national and international prestige that comes with university designation will result in increased visibility for Salem State and the region. The 85 percent of our graduates who remain in Massachusetts will use their university educations for the benefit of North Shore businesses, nonprofits and local communities. With the university name, our highly credentialed and diverse faculty will not only educate Massachusetts' and the nation's workforce, but through their research provide a stimulus for the growth of the business and industry sector in an area running along the coast from Revere to Amesbury.
With our recognition as a teaching university, Salem State can more readily compete for federal grants and attract private and foundation investment in our programs.
We wear our new university designation as a mantle of distinction, pride and acknowledgement by the commonwealth that our place in the future of this region and the state is an important one. With the university name, we are now on the same footing with the higher education institutions in 45 states across the country that have already been accorded university status, including those in neighboring New Hampshire and Connecticut.
Salem, along with Massachusetts' eight other state colleges, will, following a mandatory 90-day waiting period, collectively form the Massachusetts state university system effective Oct. 28, 2010.
It is not the first name change for the institution. Salem State has undergone several since its founding in 1854. Each transition has denoted a change not in mission, which has remained constant, but in purpose, vision and its response to the evolving needs of the region, the commonwealth and society. Salem State, with schools of arts and sciences, business and human services, now offers 29 baccalaureate and 50 graduate programs, and has more than 10,000 students. Its 45,000-plus alumni are the bedrock of the region's workforce.
Salem State and our sister institutions have worked toward this day for a very long time. Achievement of university status for Salem State was borne of the vision of my two predecessors, emeriti presidents Nancy D. Harrington and James Amsler, who realized as early as the mid-1980s the value of a state university to the North Shore. Today's victory is their victory as well, and we salute them for their foresight and tenacity.
Our thanks to Senate Majority Leader Frederick Berry, the bill's sponsor, and to State Rep. John Keenan, the bill's co-sponsor, who championed our cause each step of the way and delivered overwhelming Senate and House support. They believed, as we do, that a Salem State University will lead the growth and development of this region in many ways.
As Salem State University, we will continue to prepare this and the next generation's workforce, the human capital that is the future of the nation. We will continue to meet the changing demands of this century's students. We will partner with business entities and the municipalities of our region, providing both expanded resources and the benefits of academic research.
We are ready to take our rightful place in the region. We are grateful for the support of so many that has brought us to this historic day. We are Salem State University.
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Patricia Maguire Meservey became the 13th president of Salem State on July 29, 2007.
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