One piece of unfinished business on Beacon Hill involves the effort to grant Salem State College and some of its peers university status.
Indeed, a bump and expansion for Salem State's visibility and prestige represents a better bet for the future than does an expansion of gaming. And a full-fledged university would certainly provide new opportunities for students from Gloucester and other parts of Cape Ann.
As it is, local Salem State graduates — many of them with advanced degrees — play a prominent role in the educational, medical, economic and cultural life of the region. Bestowing university status on the school would lead even more to pursue their studies and make their careers there, and would open the door to faculty recruitment for even broader course options.
There's no reason that a Legislature poised to open the doors to new casinos can't also open new educational doors by granting the area's closest and most accessible state school the university designation it warrants. Cape Ann's legislative delegation — State Sen. Bruce Tarr and Reps. Ann-Margaret Ferrante and Brad Hill — should all firmly get behind the push to get this done.
