 After Brian C. Mitchell was installed as W & J President in 1998 , he was surprised at the poor state of the college 's relations with the city of Washington . During a courtesy visit to local officials early in his tenure , Mitchell was berated by the officials for 45 minutes , blaming the college " for everything that had gone wrong in the last 50 years . ” With input from several other colleges and the Knight Collaborative , a national initiative designed to develop strategies for partnership between colleges and local community revitalization efforts , the college and the city developed the Blueprint for Collaboration , a plan with detailed goals and benchmarks for the future to help the College and the city work together on economic development , environmental protection , and historic preservation . The plan included provisions for the college to offer more academic opportunities for the community and to explore moving its bookstore into the downtown area , develop student housing in the downtown area , and to expand student use of the downtown eating , shopping , and visiting destinations . The City of Washington began a downtown revitalization project featuring new sidewalks , landscaping , and fiber @-@ optic cables . The plan also called for an " investors roundtable , " comprising federal and state officials , the banking community , commercial interests , and potential investors . 
