What Do Colleges Owe the Cities That Host Them? - Commentary

Davarian L. Baldwin, professor of American studies and founding director of the Smart Cities Research Lab at Trinity College (CT), writes:  Ithaca, N.Y., has been described as 10 square miles, surrounded by reality. Every summer, half the city empties out when students from Cornell University and Ithaca College are replaced with hippies who flock to the area’s music festivals, solidifying the city’s reputation as a quirky, bucolic haven from the real world. But over the past few months, reality has hit right at the heart of Ithaca’s picture-postcard setting. This quaint college town, surrounded by rolling hills and waterfalls, has had to contend with big-city struggles over budget deficits, land battles, and political deception. And Cornell sits at the center of the controversy.