BLACK CAUCUS BACKS CAMPUS

The state's black lawmakers have gone to bat for Southeast Missouri State University's River Campus project.

The endorsement by Missouri's black caucus comes as the university continues to lobby for state funding for the project.

Southeast officials hope Gov. Mel Carnahan will revise his proposed capital improvements budget and recommend some level of state funding for the project this year.

Southeast wants to turn a former Catholic seminary into a school for the visual and performing arts. The River Campus would be developed on the site of the old St. Vincent's Seminary in Cape Girardeau overlooking the Mississippi River.

The project would cost an estimated $35.6 million.

Southeast wants the state to fund half the cost. The other $17.8 million would come from private donations and the issuance of bonds through the state-established Health and Educational Facilities Authority.

In a Feb. 4 letter to Carnahan, the chairman of the black caucus -- Rep. Russell Gunn, D-St. Louis -- voiced the group's support for the River Campus project.

"Such an investment will pay large dividends in enhancing the quality of life and economic development of the significant portion of Missouri's African-American population in Cape Girardeau," Gunn wrote.

Gunn said the 15-member caucus of black senators and representatives endorsed the project because the university has pledged to:

-- Develop a cultural arts program for minority youths.

-- Establish a job training program for residents in the south-side neighborhood where the River Campus would be situated.

-- Assist Cape Girardeau in building a transportation system that would serve area residents.

Gunn said, "Research has shown that the arts are a prime means of encouraging minority children to take more interest in all aspects of their education and thus to do better in school."

Southeast has talked of expanding its shuttle bus system to transport students between the main Cape Girardeau campus and the River Campus.

In conjunction with that effort, Gunn said, the university would be working with the city to build "a comprehensive transportation system."

Gunn said that would make it possible for blacks in the area to more easily move about the city, both for employment and for an improved quality of life.

"We believe this is a truly extraordinary project, and we urge you, as governor, to do whatever is necessary to fund the River Campus during the present session of the General Assembly so the project can move forward," Gunn wrote.

Southeast officials had lobbied for the support of the black caucus.

Although small in numbers, their views carry weight with other lawmakers and the governor, said Dr. Dale Nitzschke, Southeast's president.

"Frankly, they are a very powerful group," said Nitzschke.

"Not only do they see benefits to minorities that live in the area, they also see the university taking on a major project that holds promise for jobs for minorities as well," he said.

The River Campus project could result in construction jobs for minority workers, Nitzschke said.

Nitzschke and two other top officials of the university -- Executive Vice President Ken Dobbins and Board of Regents President Don Dickerson -- lobbied for state funding for the project at a meeting in Jefferson City with the governor on Feb. 11.

The meeting also was attended by two other proponents of the project -- Gunn and Kathy Brown, plant manager of the Procter and Gamble Co. plant in Cape Girardeau County.

Dickerson, a close friend of Carnahan, said the governor likes the project. The only question is whether the state has money this year to fund it, Dickerson said.

The university initially had hoped for $8.8 million in state funding this year. But the project wasn't included in Carnahan's budget recommendations to the Legislature in January.

Dickerson said the funding recommendations for capital projects could be revised if it appears the state will have more revenue to work with than originally projected.

University officials stressed the importance of getting the governor's support.

"I don't think there is any question that it is best if it can come through as part of the governor's recommendations on the budget," Dickerson said.

Even if some state funding is received this year Dickerson said, it likely will be less than $8.8 million.

Dickerson said he hopes the state will appropriate at least $1 million in funding for the project this year.