Abraham Lincoln, and Mark the Apostle before him, may not have been thinking of Central Michigan University’s College of Medicine when they said the famous phrase, but their words ring clear in the imbroglio surrounding its development.

As reported in Friday’s edition of Central Michigan Life, none of the other several Michigan universities developing medical schools have encountered even a fraction of the opposition CMU has from faculty and students.

Does this mean we are simply unwilling to see the potential for financial and academic gain from the university, blinded by selfish desires for higher pay, lower tuition and more support for current programs?

No.

While it is not our intention to put words in the mouth of CMU’s administration, this seems to be its general response to the mounting opposition to CMED:

“Look at the big picture.”

“It serves a clear need in the community.”

“It will be a money-maker.”

The administration has to acknowledge the concerns of its students and its faculty, two essential elements the university cannot exist without.

One of Academic Senate’s biggest issues with CMED as it stands was represented by Phil Squattrito, former A-Senate Chairman and current chemistry professor, on Tuesday.

“At the heart of this motion is to get the university to be more forthcoming on the medical school,” he said.

Senators took issue with a lack of detail and transparency on the costs of CMED.

These problems are coming from an administration which refuses to be forthcoming with CMED information while the president vows to fight for transparency.

“We must also acknowledge the challenges of access to students, affordability in terms of controlling costs and tuition, ensuring a strong foundation of quality in all that we do, and accountability — being accountable and responsible through transparency in our role as educators,” University President George Ross said in a statement to the university published in Central Michigan Life on Oct. 26.

While it’s well and good to say the university is committed to being transparent, actions speak louder than words, and A-Senate has a very good point against CMED and the administration.

Furthermore, it is clear the administration has not convinced our alumni of the importance of the venture, as CMED is, of last mention, somewhere around the halfway point of its $25 million fundraising goal, having remained stagnant there for months.

Contrast this with the $100 million donation Western Michigan University received for its medical school in March, and the dichotomy of support for each initiative becomes eminently clear.

CMED is an outlier in a set of universities happily progressing toward medical schools, and even if it does manage to reach accreditation and completion, it will never be more than an over-sized — and empty — trophy case without the support of the students and faculty surrounding it.

So if you do not support the College of Medicine, let your voice be heard while it can make a difference. If you are supportive of CMED, then you should speak up as well. Our current system of muffled criticism is finally coming to an end, and it’s time for opinions to be shared openly and honestly.

The administration can only bury its head so deep in the sand before the crescendo of opposition reaches it.