EDITORIAL: The road to the Albany State of tomorrow begins

With the release Friday of the names of the representatives of Albany State University and Darton State College who will serve on it, we now know the committee that will design the road map to a new, consolidated Albany State University.

And the real work begins.

Like any merger — whether it’s businesses combining or simply two people marrying — the details are critical.

The details that this committee will iron out will be even more so because what it does will affect our entire region. This is a task that must be performed successfully, and with a great deal of foresight. Southwest Georgia needs a strong, vibrant university that is producing strong future leaders in an environment where everyone feels welcome and the community feels invested.

It’s no secret that Southwest Georgia’s economy has lagged other regions of the state. A strong university situated in the middle of the region would create an engine of knowledge and economic power that would go a long way toward helping us catch up.

That’s what our focus should be. We’ve known for some time now that a merger of some sort of University System of Georgia institutions in our area was inevitable. The only question was which institutions would be combined and when it would happen. Those basic questions have been answered. We know what is happening, who it’s happening to, where it’s happening and about when it’s expected to happen. As for the why, USG officials have been in a merger mode for a while now, looking for ways to improve educational experiences in more efficient ways. With both ASU and Darton losing student population, they determined that it was time to take a different approach.

Those of us in the Albany area have the right to agree or disagree with the thinking of the chancellor and the Board of Regents. There have been passionate responses to the decision, both for and against, but now it is time to take a pragmatic course. Chances are nil that the regents will backtrack on this decision. ASU and Darton will be merged.

What we have to do now is work to ensure our children, grandchildren and their children have a university in Albany that will provide them with a high quality educational environment, one that will facilitate their development personally, intellectually and professionally into the leaders of the future — a future that is not all that far away.

That is what we must be committed to.

Understandably, we all have questions about the consolidation. The stakes are huge for our region. We hope that the process will be open and, when it has been completed, that we will have a university that will be a powerful magnet for students from both our area and elsewhere.

The drawing of the road map to the new Albany State will begin in earnest Wednesday when the joint committee meets at the USG offices. Then, the journey begins.