In what might be the final acts in this engrossing drama at
the University of Virginia (UVA), Teresa Sullivan was reinstated as the
university’s president after a deafening outcry[1]
by the school’s faculty and students.[2]
Only three weeks ago, Sullivan had been kicked to the curb,
an ouster that was largely kept secret from the student body and faculty of UVA[3].
The incident caused such a spark in Virginia that Governor
Bob McDonnell threatened to dismiss the entire UVA governing board. If only
Virginia’s governor would devote such time and attention to matters more pertinent
to the direct welfare of all Virginians!
Not only did Sullivan’s dismissal cause an uproar in Charlottesville,
a statewide discussion was sparked about the best way to run public
universities in austere economic periods.
On the one hand, there are the “Sullivanites”, those who see
higher education as a means of promoting an education outside of the strict confines
of “relevancy” and “pragmatism,” an education that values the arts and
humanities just as much as the “money making degrees” that have taken center
stage on America’s theatre of consciousness.
On the other hand are the proponents of “free market” higher
education, an education whose buzz words include “relevant,” “cost effective,” “market
oriented.”[4]
These proselytizers of the free hand of the market seek only those solutions
which can maximize benefit for the maximum number of students. Sounds like a
reasonable goal to strive for, right?
One of the biggest problems with this approach is that if
the “free hand of the market” is allowed to work its magic, many of the
disciplines that millions of Americans hold degrees in or wish to hold in the
future would be left by the wayside in the never ceasing search for cost
effectiveness. Oh well, you say, but before we jump on the free market
bandwagon we should at least attempt to assess what we are actually losing in
the process.
Until now, no one that I can tell has really given careful
consideration to what America might lose if the arts and humanities are
degraded to a second or third class status in our institutions of higher
education. These disciplines may not give students the best chance to earn six
figures upon their graduation, but when did it become a law that all
individuals want big money jobs that give little by way of individual
fulfillment?
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