With the strike coming to a resolution late last week, one is left to ponder higher education’s increasingly blatant profit-maximizing incentives. Instead of pleasing shareholders, American universities seem to aspire for endless growth– new facilities, new coaches, new programs, the new dean of [fill in the blank]– all to ascend the rankings and gain prestige in order to, in an almost satirical feedback loop, make more money.
Any Rutgers student or faculty member in New Brunswick is able to see the physical manifestation of this by the cluster of cranes around Somerset Street. Two high-rise medical treatment facilities are currently being constructed, further cementing the city as a regional leader in healthcare. In addition to these, with Rutgers as its principal tenant, New Brunswick Development Corporation (DEVCO) is spearheading the construction of three new high-rises across from the train station. They will mainly be devoted to medical research as opposed to treatment centers. This project, which has been slightly inconsistent in its purported plans as well as its name, is now dubbed “The Helix.” Once completed, much of the research conducted at The Helix will be translational research, which is essentially applying medical research to real-world practice and treatment. In addition to creating space for research and the Rutgers Medical School, 200 units of much-needed housing will be created in what will also be Middlesex County’s tallest building (according to DEVCO’s president). As for when this will all be completed, only God knows the answer to that question.
This spate of high-rise construction projects will undoubtedly bring jobs and wealth into the city, while also having the potential for remarkable advancements in medical research and care. So, aside from the favorable higher education component, what is the issue? Well, construction of new buildings in dense areas typically involves tearing down some existing structures, and unfortunately one of those happened to be a school. Even worse, while awaiting the construction of a new school on Jersey Avenue, students were sent to a school that was converted from a warehouse. Despite community resistance from both Rutgers and the New Brunswick locals, Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey has already made significant progress on its construction and it will most likely be completed by next year. And though this was by far the biggest issue with the location, it also demonstrates how RWJ continues to encroach on residential neighborhoods in the city (Imagine a multi-story parking garage being built right across the street from your two-story home).
Now, it seems I have presented a dilemma between growth and community interests, but does it have to be this way? The truth, like many truths, lies somewhere in the middle, much like a compromise. Change and adaptation are necessary for both universities and cities alike. Often those necessary changes come with some sort of costs to the community, which can range from 7 AM construction ambiance to sending your children off to warehouse school for a year. I would conjecture that some of the growth we see in New Brunswick, like The Helix, may result in legitimate benefits because of the project’s scope and location. Another potentially beneficial project would be turning the recently closed Sears by Route 1 into an apartment complex.
The problem is when this growth overwhelmingly affects its community adversely and offers no substantial return for them in the long run. Most of New Brunswick’s low to middle-income families will not find any employment opportunities at the Rutgers Cancer Institute or at any other new RWJ facility for that matter. Likewise, most university students and faculty will not be positively impacted by a new administrative position with a six-figure salary. So, when
“progress” results in such costly disruptions for the majority, we really ought to question whether or not perpetual expansion is progress at all.