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Heritage's future in good hands with Bassett
Yakima Herald-Republic
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This editorial appears in the Sept. 2, 2010, Yakima Herald-Republic.
Having a Heritage University president whose name isn't Kathleen Ross will take some getting used to. But new President John Bassett is promising a smooth transition for the school's students, faculty, alumni and a Yakima Valley that long has recognized the value of the little educational institution that could.
Heritage brought its four-year curriculum to the Lower Valley in 1981, and Ross has been president from Day One until this year, an extraordinary tenure at a job in which a decade is an extended stay. In the process, Heritage -- first a college and now a university -- made a name for itself by educating those whose economic status and rural isolation made them difficult to serve by the traditional model of higher education.
Now comes Bassett, who arrived on the Heritage campus after 10 years at Clark University in Worcester, Mass.
Clark on the surface seems to have little in common with Heritage -- its 2,200 mostly white, residential undergraduates attend a research university in an urban setting. Heritage is a commuter school with a majority minority student population situated in the hop fields three miles west of Toppenish.
But like Ross, Bassett has shown an inventive streak when it comes to serving students. While at Clark, he established a campus school that serves seventh- through 12th-graders and was named one of the 100 best public high schools by Newsweek magazine.
Bassett, 67, hopes to be similarly inventive at bolstering Heritage's academic offerings and solidifying the school's finances. While understanding the school's role in providing access to disadvantaged students, he also wants Heritage to offer a solid alternative for Yakima Valley students -- particularly from Yakima -- who may not have considered Heritage in past years.
Heritage already has made great strides since its early days when its main building was the old McKinley Elementary School. It is now a true campus with several impressive buildings courtesy of a $25 million capital campaign. A signature structure is its new 35,000-square-foot Arts and Sciences Center. Enrollment continues to grow and now sits at 1,400 students.
The school has produced thousands of alumni who have made an impact throughout the Yakima Valley, especially as teachers in our schools.
And while Ross is stepping aside, she is not stepping away. She has an office on campus and is starting a national institution aimed at helping disadvantaged students get their degrees. She knows a little something about that.
The Valley is changing, thanks in part to Heritage's presence, and the school displays a Ph.D.'s wisdom in responding to those changes. Ross' vision from almost 30 years ago has become a reality, and now Bassett gets a chance to show that his vision of the future will carry it where it needs to go.
* Members of the Yakima Herald-Republic editorial board are James E. Stickel, Bob Crider, Spencer Hatton, Frank Purdy and Karen Troianello.
