Proud - Youngstown State University

Looking Ahead:
YSU's Next
YEARS
The past two issues of YSU Magazine celebrated the university’s
Centennial by recalling our proud past – from its beginnings at the YMCA
in downtown Youngstown to the campus growth and expansion of the
1990s and 2000s. In this edition, we pull out the crystal ball to speculate
on YSU’s next 100 years. We asked seven individuals, all with strong
ties to YSU and the Mahoning Valley, to speculate on what
lies ahead in Youngstown State University’s
second century. Here’s what
they had to say:
Jay Williams
Mayor, City of Youngstown
Having graduated from
Youngstown State University in
1994 with a B.S.B.A., majoring
in Finance, I distinctly recall
a well-established tenet in the
study of the financial markets
which states in effect, “Past
performance does not guarantee
future results.” However, when
applying that principle to the
future of YSU, I would confidently
assert that the university’s
proud and inspiring past 100
years should unquestionably give rise to great expectations
for an even more promising and exciting future.
I was afforded the privilege of giving the commencement
address at YSU’s Spring 2008 Centennial graduation
ceremony. During the address, I reflected on attending a
recent leadership conference in Europe during which the
first participant, a man from Kosovo whom I happened to
engage in conversation, was eager to make mention of YSU.
His brother was a YSU graduate with a master’s degree in
chemistry. (Ironically, we met before I’d had the opportunity
to introduce myself as being from Youngstown. He had previously
read my bio and made it a point to find me.)
As a result of our conversation, I recounted to the audience
how I was overcome with a greater appreciation of
what a powerful force the graduates of YSU have been in
our society over the past 100 years. As our world becomes
increasingly interconnected, interdependent, and in need of
effective leadership, the future graduates of Youngstown State
are poised and prepared to make even more valuable contributions
than ever before. This belief is reinforced often
through my interactions with various YSU faculty, staff,
students and alumni.
I conclude, as did in my commencement address, with
a quote from former President Bill Clinton who once said,
“The future is not an inheritance; it is an opportunity and an
obligation.” Because of the proud and triumphant preceding
100 years, prospective YSU students will forever matriculate
with both the opportunity and obligation to ensure that past
performance does indeed guarantee future results.
Andrea Wood
President, Youngstown Publishing Co., Co-founder,
Publisher and Editor-in-Chief, The Business Journal,
Youngstown
In the next 100 years, Youngstown State University
transforms the Mahoning Valley into a center for education
and technical innovation. Youngstown becomes a college
town where students, faculty and professionals revitalize the
city with vibrant residential and commercial neighborhoods
and an eclectic arts and entertainment district downtown.
Outreach programs and partnerships developed by the
Williamson College of Business Administration in the last
decade of the 20th century evolve into standard operating
procedures for companies thriving in a regional economy that
remembers steel as the historical turning point in its diversification.
YSU graduates see opportunities to build their futures
here, one of America’s new garden spots created with climate
changes that place a premium on real estate in this oasis of
learning and culture.
Buildings on campus, such as the Williamson
College of Business Administration now under development,
are updated and then updated again to keep
up with technology and
instructional methods
we can only imagine.
Inside and outside
the classroom - and yes,
there will be classrooms
- the one thing
that will not change is
how students learn. It
will still come down to
teachers’ lectures, just
as it has since Plato’s
academy, since the rise
of universities in Italy
in the 1300s.
6 Youngstown State University