For Immediate Release
Save UST CDC formed to protest the closure of the
University of St. Thomas Child Development Center
St. Paul, MN
September 19, 2018
On September 12, 2018, the University of St. Thomas (UST) announced suddenly that it would close its Child Development Center (CDC), effective June 2019. UST wishes to consolidate its student health services under one roof on its St. Paul campus (the proposed Center for Well-Being), appropriating the current CDC building for this purpose. Rather than relocate the CDC, or implement other space for the Center for Well-Being, it is abandoning the CDC entirely, after 20 years of its pioneering success as a model for early childhood education. All teachers, staff, student employees and interns will be terminated, and children and their families will be displaced.
Since 1998, the CDC has served the children of UST students and employees as well as children of the community of which UST is a part. The CDC provides a singular and widely-admired early childhood education program. In addition to nurturing the physical and mental development of the children it serves, the CDC also provides education to the university students who work and learn within its facility, preparing them to serve the needs of children and families in the community. It is an example to the community and the nation of how to nurture and develop small children. It should be touted by UST and not neglected. At a time when Minnesota and the nation are lacking in excellent, or even adequate, early childhood education options, UST has decided to eliminate its groundbreaking program and further compound a significant social problem.
When so many institutions are reckoning with how they have failed and neglected small children, the CDC is a shining example of how an institution can nurture and support the youngest and most vulnerable members of its community. The CDC is financially self-sustaining. It has not experienced a decline in enrollment and maintains a healthy wait list. Closure of the CDC would continue the national erosion of options for high-quality early childhood education and would place UST at a distinct disadvantage with respect to hiring and retaining the best faculty and staff.
We recognize the importance of the proposed Center for Well-Being. We also believe that student physical and mental health and an early childhood development center should not be viewed as an “either/or” situation. For an institution with the resources of UST, both can and should be worthy pursuits. By eliminating the CDC, the university is sacrificing the well-being of the children who attend the center. As one parent has expressed, "Although I admire St. Thomas's concern for the well-being of its students, closing the Child Development Center compromises the well-being of the center's children, including children like my daughter who have disabilities and have benefitted greatly from the early childhood education provided so well there. There must be other solutions that serve both groups."
We applaud the University of Minnesota for its recent decision to reinstate and expand its own child development center. This represents clear prioritization of, and renewed commitment to, early childhood education by one of the great pioneer institutions of child learning and development. We urgently wish for UST to reverse its own decision, to further deepen its own commitment to child development, and in doing so to reinforce its mission, "All for the common good."
The families of the CDC, current and past, as well as other concerned individuals, have formed Save UST CDC to advocate for the continued operation of the CDC. Save UST CDC maintains this website of information about its efforts. All interested parties are invited to sign the petition available at the site. Ongoing events and updates will be posted here.