Why MSU-Mankato should not be tearing down Gage Residence Hall

Robert A. Swart of Mankato criticizes the Minnesota State University – Mankato leadership for deciding to tear down Gage Residence Hall, saying university officials have failed to maintain it, and don’t see that they can still save the building:

What I find amazing is an administration that is so willing to go against what I thought were principles of an institution of higher learning. Recycling, historic preservation, and preservation of open spaces, which on campus is a limited resource. … History can’t happen if we tear it down every 50 years.

Read his full editorial in The Free Press of Mankato.

About the blogger

Alex Friedrich

afriedrich@mpr.org

Alex Friedrich reports on higher education issues for MPR News. Among the stories he has covered: the fall of the Berlin Wall, aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, collapse of the I-35W bridge in Minneapolis, 2003 Moscow suicide bombing and 2004 presidential elections in the Republic of Georgia. He holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Georgia and a master’s in European political economy from the London School of Economics.