Maryland Governor Faces Questions Over University Golf Course Funding
ANNAPOLIS, Md.
Gov. Robert Ehrlich is facing questions from some at the University of Maryland for putting more than a $1 million into the school’s budget to repair the school’s golf course instead of fixing two science buildings.
Over two years, $1.5 million will be spent to fix the golf course’s drainage problem.
Maryland has been trying to get money to replace two 50-year-old science buildings, but spending on that project has been delayed by a year.
“The golf course is a wonderful place, but the priority ought to go to what’s important to the economic development of the state,” said James Rosapepe, a member of the Board of Regents appointed by Ehrlich’s Democratic predecessor. “Our recommendation was science, and the decision was made to go with golf.”
Projects were delayed throughout the university system to free up cash for large investments in K-12 school construction in the $1.4 billion capital spending plan presented last week. Plus, the governor said, he is trying to play catch-up at the state’s historically Black colleges, such as Coppin State University, and expand others designated for enrollment growth, such as Towson University.
