August 17, 2010 —
Much has been written in the U.S. about “town-gown” relations in college towns where an institution of higher learning is beloved as the dominant force in the local economy but also disliked as a nuisance because of traffic congestion, noise, empty beer cans and bad checks, among other things.
The phenomenon is called a “love-hate relationship” and it also can occur in communities where a factory or healthcare facility or other large employer is alternately cheered and jeered.
And Morehead is no exception.
More than 1,200 new students will be arriving at Morehead State University this Friday on “move-in” day. Some estimate that each student will bring an average of four family members with them. We East Kentuckians like to make it a family affair when someone goes off to college or to the military or up north to find a job.
A steady parade of cars, vans, pickup trucks and other assorted vehicles will stream into our community throughout most of the day. Their eventual destination will be the big MSU parking lot on the U.S. 60 Bypass. From there, the newcomers and relatives will ride shuttle buses to various stops on campus or some will do it on foot.
After nearly 123 years of practice, the MSU folks have made moving in a well-organized, efficient exercise that will impress most of our visitors with a friendly “can do” attitude and big smiles on the faces of dozens of staff members and volunteers. Brawny young men will be anxious to carry the belongings of new students, especially the coeds.
By the end of the day, students will be settling into their new Kentucky home after some tearful farewells to the folks from home. Then they will be unpacking all of the essential goods they had to have for college, much of which they bought here or will replace here.
And those visitors leaving Morehead in all directions will be driving away with gasoline, food, beverages, souvenirs and lots of other stuff you can buy in a college town. And you can do it each time you come to visit.
Magically, as it happens each year, those happy, hopeful voices, jingling cash registers and humming credit card machines again will make the sweet music that makes these hills come alive and that renews our pride in being MSU’s hometown.
