We’re in trying times; it’s difficult being a college student.
When President Renu Khator addressed a deficit of nearly $21 billion Wednesday night in her annual address, you could almost hear a collective gasp within the University’s community — it was similar to when Case Keenum and Cotton Turner were injured in the Cougars’ loss to the UCLA Bruins last Saturday, but on a different level.
But in typical Khator fashion, our president focused on the high points, stressing our University’s accomplishments over the past 365 days — the increased average SAT score of UH students, the largest freshman class ever recruited by The Honors College and, of course, how we’ve gotten closer to Flagship status.
She told attendees that the annual research awards are up to $114 million, and private donations reached a record $102 million, despite the economic slump, as reported by the Houston Chronicle.
Khator hasn’t been the president of our University for very long, but since she’s joined the ranks of our already prestigious faculty and staff, the national spotlight seems to be on us more and more. And we couldn’t be more thankful to have her. Her continued hard work doesn’t go unnoticed by faculty, staff or students, and we feel it best if UH continues to accommodate her to the best of its ability.
We aren’t in the pocket of the University — far from it, actually — but we do feel the need to recognize when someone employed by UH has gone above and beyond, and we feel that Khator has done just that.
In the long run, assuming her plans continue to go the way they’re going, all of our degrees will be worth more, valued in a way we all hope our college degrees to be.
So with all of these successes, what we hope for is that the proposed budget cuts don’t go through. Khator and the leaders of many other public universities have (and will continue to) lobby against the proposed cuts, but even if worse comes to worse, she said that UH will not let fall its aspirations of being a flagship University with a nationally competitive research program.
We, the students, are right there with her, and we wish her the best as she continues to try and further our education and our University.
