The university is sitting on a gold mine.Administrators are involved in negotiations with local companies to tap into a pocket of natural gas sitting below campus.

The same situation is occurring across Fort Worth as companies hurry to tap into the Barnett Shale, a natural gas resource that stretches through several Texas counties.

Companies hope to not only purchase mineral rights from the university, they hope to utilize unused space on campus as drilling sites.

While the idea of having a drilling site on campus isn’t necessarily very appealing, the potential revenue from such a venture certainly is.

If the local companies are allowed to tap into the pocket, the arrangement could bring millions of dollars to the university.

With the university’s ambitious appetite for building and the Vision In Action program – both large potential expenses – looming in the future, the university would be crazy not to add another outside revenue stream.

There’s no reason for that supplemental revenue stream not to come out of the Barnett Shale.

The new revenue would shift the financial burden away from donors and strengthen the university’s financial holdings by adding a revenue stream that is more of a long-term asset.

As long as TCU ensures the drilling practices are safe and that students’ safety isn’t in danger, the plan is a win-win.

Running a university is expensive, and a little supplemental income wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world for TCU.

Some may object to the university getting into the fossil fuel business.

But, then again, Texas has been in the business for quite some time.

The reality is that companies are going to just drill elsewhere, and the school might as well jump on the bandwagon.

News editor Andrew Chavez for the editorial board.