A committee is currently reviewing proposals from potential buyers of Circleville Farm that were submitted on Friday.

It will decide which to recommend to the members of the Board of Trustees, who have the final say on the fate of the 155-acre tract of land operated by the College of Agriculture Sciences.

The university now needs to seriously consider all of the proposals, especially those that advocate that the university retains the farm.

Penn State spokesman Steve MacCarthy said one of the reasons the College of Agriculture doesn't want the land anymore is because it no longer uses it. The remedy for this should not be to sell the land, but to begin using it again.

The College of Agriculture has said the farm is too far from campus, making it difficult to transport students and equipment there for classes.

But this wasn't a problem during the several years it used the land as a hands-on learning center and student run farm.

The location of Circleville Farm -- surrounded by residential development -- also makes it a perfect place for the College to teach community farming techniques.

Rather than selling the land to a residential or other type of developer, the university should seize the opportunities Circleville possesses.

It should not only keep the farm, it should resume incorporating it into its curriculum again.

By retaining this small parcel, the university can ensure innovative and necessary aspects of agriculture education continue to exist at Penn State.