MOLINE, Ill. — After a public letter came out from Moline's mayor, casting doubt on the future of Western Illinois University's stance in the Quad Cities, the president and CEO of the Quad Cities Chamber confirmed they have been talking about bringing in a new public university.
Chamber president Paul Rumler told News 8 on Thursday, February 18 that the discussions were in the exploration phase, but that it was a positive vibe. The chamber has been working with Governor J.B. Pritzker's office on the prospect of bringing in another state university.
In the letter, Moline's Mayor Stephanie Acri wrote to WIU's president, Dr. Guiyou Huang, saying the city was looking for a "true partner" and a campus that will provide students with housing, restaurants, shopping and athletic engagement.
Rumler said growth at Western Illinois University in the Quad Cities has not met expectations. When the campus opened in 2012, school leaders expected to enroll upwards of 3,000 students. As of February of 2021, there are fewer than 1,000 students enrolled.
"We've had programs like our engineering program that started out with a bang, got accredited and then the enrollment fizzled because they stopped talking about it," said Rumler. "They stopped promoting the fact that they had an engineering program. That's the track record we've been seeing here with Western and it can't stay that way."
Dr. Huang took the helm of WIU in January of 2021, taking over for Jack Thomas. Thomas resigned in 2019.