(Eric Frey)
This past week, Miami University received $10.5 million from Roger and Joyce Howe to be used for a comprehensive writing center available to all students with a variety of resources on hand. As journalists and writers, the editorial board of The Miami Student believes the Howes' gift toward improved writing to be of utmost importance to the university community and the furtherance of undergraduate education.
Writing is a life skill that aids university graduates in obtaining careers, promotions, recognition and respect. Strong, persuasive writing skills speak more for a person's ability than arbitrary grade point averages or college entrance exams. Establishing a university-wide writing center is a critical advance for Miami students' writing proficiency. The center will provide guidance and resources for a whole range of writing abilities and thereby fill gaps left by former teachers or courses that neglected regular writing assignments.
Miami prides itself on its strong liberal arts credentials, but more often than not, liberal arts take second place to the burgeoning and developing departments of business, engineering and computer science, fields that are quickly becoming hot spots of undergraduate activity and are areas that Miami has made an effort to strengthen during the past several years.
Attention is needed in these areas, but the students who benefit from such attention are a microcosm of the whole university population. The greatest advantage to Roger and Joyce Howe's multimillion-dollar gift is that it will be available to the entire student population as well as faculty members for a number of different purposes.
It is the hope of the editorial board that the center will be utilized often and extensively by students, regardless of writing ability, in order to nurture and expand upon students' writing experiences. Should Miami cultivate a reputation as a university with writing success as a central focus, past, current and future students will benefit, not only in the excellence of their writing, but also from the recognition Miami's writing reputation will offer in resumés.
This editorial board commends the Howes' monetary gift to the university and their recognition of the importance of high-quality writing in college graduates.
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