Anonymous
05/18/2026 11:16
Subject: UVM projects 15% drop in freshman class, faces $12M deficit
Anonymous wrote:Letting blue cities go to pot is a worse problem than rural opioid deaths, because blue cities are our centers of finance, education, productivity, and basically national life. If people won't go downtown out of fear of being stabbed or at least aggressively panhandled, precious cultural institutions like UVM will wither on the vine. It's a vicious cycle and it doesn't need to happen.
I go to Burlington regularly, and it's one of the nicest cities in the USA. The same people crowing about its demise are the same people who regularly criticize other Democratically run cities as hell holes. They can stay in their bunkers in Idaho.
Anonymous
05/18/2026 11:14
Subject: UVM projects 15% drop in freshman class, faces $12M deficit
Letting blue cities go to pot is a worse problem than rural opioid deaths, because blue cities are our centers of finance, education, productivity, and basically national life. If people won't go downtown out of fear of being stabbed or at least aggressively panhandled, precious cultural institutions like UVM will wither on the vine. It's a vicious cycle and it doesn't need to happen.
Anonymous
05/18/2026 10:47
Subject: UVM projects 15% drop in freshman class, faces $12M deficit
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:I'm sure the Democrats letting Burlington turn into a hell-hole had nothing to do with it.
Oh, look. It's the "Democrats are dEsTrOyIng cities" poster.
Seriously. Oh yay, red state governance, so much better. Is your last name Murdaugh? Love those good ol boys. Let's spend millions and millions and millions on sports and drink a lot and be hot and sweaty.
What about the extreme poverty and rampant opioid use in rural red states? It's the exact same thing as in cities, just spread out more so that you don't see it as much.
It's not as if there are no cities in red states - they just don't tend to be drug fueled anarchy like SF or the PNW cities. Nor are all blue state cities equally bad - NYC is quite a bit better than SF. But Burlington is more like SF on drugs and homelessness.
This is the nonsense that you hear from people who spend too much time on Faux News. The homeless issue if San Francisco was out of control in its messiness. It also was confined to a small (but quite visible) section of the city. Same goes for Burlington.
In San Francisco it is a small part of the city. In Burlington, the area where they congregate is maybe a block. Nothing significant in either city but for those looking to manufacture outrage it is visible. What is more telling (though not as visible) is that 7 of the top 10 states for fentanyl overdoses are red states. Drugs and poverty are far bigger issues there, just more diffuse. Facts are friendly to the blue states, not so much for the red ones in the crime and substance abuse category.
A previous poster said it's not a problem in Burlington. Now you're saying it's confined to a small but visible part of the (already small) city? Next step is, yes it's out of control but that's a good thing actually, and then another round of "look over there at the rednecks!"
Anonymous
05/18/2026 10:37
Subject: UVM projects 15% drop in freshman class, faces $12M deficit
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:I'm sure the Democrats letting Burlington turn into a hell-hole had nothing to do with it.
Oh, look. It's the "Democrats are dEsTrOyIng cities" poster.
Seriously. Oh yay, red state governance, so much better. Is your last name Murdaugh? Love those good ol boys. Let's spend millions and millions and millions on sports and drink a lot and be hot and sweaty.
What about the extreme poverty and rampant opioid use in rural red states? It's the exact same thing as in cities, just spread out more so that you don't see it as much.
It's not as if there are no cities in red states - they just don't tend to be drug fueled anarchy like SF or the PNW cities. Nor are all blue state cities equally bad - NYC is quite a bit better than SF. But Burlington is more like SF on drugs and homelessness.
This is the nonsense that you hear from people who spend too much time on Faux News. The homeless issue if San Franciso was out of control in its messiness. It also was confined to a small (but quite visible) section of the city. Same goes for Burlington.
A previous poster said it's not a problem in Burlington. Now you're saying it's confined to a small but visible part of the (already small) city? Next step is, yes it's out of control but that's a good thing actually, and then another round of "look over there at the rednecks!"
Anonymous
05/18/2026 10:30
Subject: UVM projects 15% drop in freshman class, faces $12M deficit
Anonymous wrote:But, but, but, it’s a public Ivy. LOL!
No one says that. Literally. No one
Anonymous
05/18/2026 10:26
Subject: UVM projects 15% drop in freshman class, faces $12M deficit
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:I'm sure the Democrats letting Burlington turn into a hell-hole had nothing to do with it.
Oh, look. It's the "Democrats are dEsTrOyIng cities" poster.
+1 The posters clutching their pearls about the scary crime in Burlington VT probably set foot in a major US city.
Anonymous
05/18/2026 10:12
Subject: UVM projects 15% drop in freshman class, faces $12M deficit
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:I'm sure the Democrats letting Burlington turn into a hell-hole had nothing to do with it.
Oh, look. It's the "Democrats are dEsTrOyIng cities" poster.
Seriously. Oh yay, red state governance, so much better. Is your last name Murdaugh? Love those good ol boys. Let's spend millions and millions and millions on sports and drink a lot and be hot and sweaty.
What about the extreme poverty and rampant opioid use in rural red states? It's the exact same thing as in cities, just spread out more so that you don't see it as much.
It's not as if there are no cities in red states - they just don't tend to be drug fueled anarchy like SF or the PNW cities. Nor are all blue state cities equally bad - NYC is quite a bit better than SF. But Burlington is more like SF on drugs and homelessness.
This is the nonsense that you hear from people who spend too much time on Faux News. The homeless issue if San Franciso was out of control in its messiness. It also was confined to a small (but quite visible) section of the city. Same goes for Burlington.
Anonymous
05/18/2026 09:39
Subject: UVM projects 15% drop in freshman class, faces $12M deficit
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:I'm sure the Democrats letting Burlington turn into a hell-hole had nothing to do with it.
Oh, look. It's the "Democrats are dEsTrOyIng cities" poster.
Seriously. Oh yay, red state governance, so much better. Is your last name Murdaugh? Love those good ol boys. Let's spend millions and millions and millions on sports and drink a lot and be hot and sweaty.
What about the extreme poverty and rampant opioid use in rural red states? It's the exact same thing as in cities, just spread out more so that you don't see it as much.
It's not as if there are no cities in red states - they just don't tend to be drug fueled anarchy like SF or the PNW cities. Nor are all blue state cities equally bad - NYC is quite a bit better than SF. But Burlington is more like SF on drugs and homelessness.
Oh FFS. I go to Burlington all the time and it's truly, truly not that bad. Nowhere near SF. Yes Portland and SF made some terrible policy choices. But Burlington is not even close and never was.
Red states are better at hiding it, that's all.
Anonymous
05/18/2026 09:34
Subject: UVM projects 15% drop in freshman class, faces $12M deficit
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:I'm sure the Democrats letting Burlington turn into a hell-hole had nothing to do with it.
Oh, look. It's the "Democrats are dEsTrOyIng cities" poster.
Seriously. Oh yay, red state governance, so much better. Is your last name Murdaugh? Love those good ol boys. Let's spend millions and millions and millions on sports and drink a lot and be hot and sweaty.
What about the extreme poverty and rampant opioid use in rural red states? It's the exact same thing as in cities, just spread out more so that you don't see it as much.
It's not as if there are no cities in red states - they just don't tend to be drug fueled anarchy like SF or the PNW cities. Nor are all blue state cities equally bad - NYC is quite a bit better than SF. But Burlington is more like SF on drugs and homelessness.
Anonymous
05/18/2026 09:28
Subject: UVM projects 15% drop in freshman class, faces $12M deficit
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:I'm sure the Democrats letting Burlington turn into a hell-hole had nothing to do with it.
Oh, look. It's the "Democrats are dEsTrOyIng cities" poster.
Seriously. Oh yay, red state governance, so much better. Is your last name Murdaugh? Love those good ol boys. Let's spend millions and millions and millions on sports and drink a lot and be hot and sweaty.
What about the extreme poverty and rampant opioid use in rural red states? It's the exact same thing as in cities, just spread out more so that you don't see it as much.
Anonymous
05/18/2026 09:27
Subject: UVM projects 15% drop in freshman class, faces $12M deficit
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:For context, the Boston Globe took early note of the challenges facing Vermont colleges in a 2019 article, "Higher education struggles are hitting Vermont hard."
Since that time, seven Vermont colleges have closed and Middlebury has run a string of annual budget deficits.
Middlebury's new president seems to be on it, unlike UVM's new president. Midd is projecting a balanced budget for FY27--for the first time in over a decade. Getting rid of MIIS (which is likely being purchased by Soka) was a good move. And Baucom realizes that creating housing and jobs are key to the town's future.
https://vtdigger.org/2026/05/15/middlebury-college-to-grow-its-role-in-housing-jobs/
Anonymous
05/18/2026 09:26
Subject: UVM projects 15% drop in freshman class, faces $12M deficit
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:I'm sure the Democrats letting Burlington turn into a hell-hole had nothing to do with it.
Oh, look. It's the "Democrats are dEsTrOyIng cities" poster.
I'm a Democrat, but turning our downtowns into open fetty dens has not been a good look for us.
Right, no drugs or homelessness in red states!
People in Burlington complain about it because they have no perspective of how other places are. Just like how they think there's "traffic". It was kind of gross in a few spots but never that bad, and the trend is definitely turning away from enabling.
Anonymous
05/18/2026 09:23
Subject: UVM projects 15% drop in freshman class, faces $12M deficit
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:I'm sure the Democrats letting Burlington turn into a hell-hole had nothing to do with it.
Oh, look. It's the "Democrats are dEsTrOyIng cities" poster.
I'm a Democrat, but turning our downtowns into open fetty dens has not been a good look for us.
Anonymous
05/18/2026 09:18
Subject: UVM projects 15% drop in freshman class, faces $12M deficit
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:I'm sure the Democrats letting Burlington turn into a hell-hole had nothing to do with it.
Oh, look. It's the "Democrats are dEsTrOyIng cities" poster.
Seriously. Oh yay, red state governance, so much better. Is your last name Murdaugh? Love those good ol boys. Let's spend millions and millions and millions on sports and drink a lot and be hot and sweaty.
Anonymous
05/18/2026 08:31
Subject: UVM projects 15% drop in freshman class, faces $12M deficit
Anonymous wrote:I'm sure the Democrats letting Burlington turn into a hell-hole had nothing to do with it.
Oh, look. It's the "Democrats are dEsTrOyIng cities" poster.