Gregory G. Dell’Omo, president of Robert Morris University, writes about the symbolism and practicality of selling a building and breaking with tradition in favor of innovation:

Like many who work in higher education, I love university traditions—the rituals, events, and stories that carry on and bind together each generation of students. Those traditions engender devotion to our institutions on the part of our alumni and make us feel a part of something bigger than ourselves.

But as much we love our traditions, they carry a risk. They can render us slow to adapt to change. Sometimes colleges allow tradition to tie them to outdated practices that no longer match the institution’s mission or the external environment. We need courage and wisdom to discern when it is time to hold on and when it is time to let go.

That’s the choice Robert Morris University (Pa.) confronted when we decided to put up for sale the classroom building we had owned in downtown Pittsburgh since 1959. Three years later the university had purchased property for a residential campus in suburban Moon Township, 18 miles from downtown, but the city remained a focal point of the school for many more years.