Here we go again.

In Tuesday’s edition of The Daily Eastern News, the Faculty Senate discussed creating another “vitalization” group, to make its own recommendations regarding Eastern’s future.

While this is definitely an interesting possibility, and more dialogue about where Eastern is going is always valuable, the idea of creating another group, especially using the term “vitalization,” will probably raise some eyebrows.

Of course, many by now are familiar with how the vitalization project went the first time around, and the negative effect not knowing the status of the university’s programs for the year it occurred.

This poses of the question of why people are using the “vitalization” label at all. Can we not all, as a university, make a conscious commitment to better Eastern without the use of these pretty buzzwords that are essentially meaningless?

There were vitalization projects workgroups that had valid recommendations that have now been put into place in some areas of the university. The enrollment workgroup led to the rehiring of some crucial employees and helped Eastern make strides in its admissions efforts. However, progress on others have not been as substantial. For instance, two years after the Intercollegiate Athletics workgroup put in its final recommendations, there is still debate going on about what sports teams should be cut, if any. 

Everyone knows Eastern needed to change and adapt so we can not only survive, as we have been doing for the past few years but also thrive as a university and respectable institution of higher education. There have been so many conversations on how to do so. We at The Daily Eastern News definitely do not want to discount the fact that as many voices as possible should be heard when deciding on what changes to make. The Workgroup Review Committee has made good points, and so far has been thoughtful about their recommendations. While their work and the work of everybody wanting to better the university has been appreciated, there needs to be some concrete decisions made, not just more organizations making more and more recommendations.

While it is always good to discuss changes and transformations coming to Eastern from every angle, there has to be a point where action is taken. Otherwise, the university will continue, essentially, running around in circles until it eventually just tires itself out.

The daily editorial is the majority opinion of the editorial board of The Daily Eastern News.