Supporters of a downtown site for a Rockford graduate studies branch need to stop yapping before they find themselves empty-handed.

NIU President John La Tourette is fed up with the constant bickering against his decision to locate the center just outside of Rockford—and he’s willing to forget the two years of struggle needed to get that far.

The NIU choice didn’t sit well with Rockford Mayor Charles Box and other city officials who want the downtown site. NIU was steadfast in its decision to keep the center where it would best serve those in need of its services.

La Tourette has a right to be mad. The move into Rockford would not only benefit NIU, but Rockford and its surrounding communities. Higher education, especially at the graduate level, is severely lacking in the area.

Yet once again, education is caught in a web of political strings. This time, though, it’ll fall through the bottom.

The city needs to stop trying to beat NIU behind its back. La Tourette has had enough of working to get the place, if Rockford is just going to nitpick over sites, and an under-the-table deal will do nothing more than kill the center’s future.

During the whole process, most business leaders were adamant about getting the center, no matter where it went. Now those businesses are watching the money fly away because Mayor Box doesn’t want to lose.

Unfortunately for Box, he’ll lose either way. Sadly, Rockford will lose the most.