A Problem With Higher Education?
I just read the article Warning Signs about Higher Education, by Alexander H. Joffe (director of Campus Watch). It is this kind of writing that makes the American Right sound so lost. Mr Joffe bemoans the state of American Universities, saying they "have a deeply negative impact on American society, its sense of cohesion and dignity, its perceptions of right and wrong, and ability to do good in the world... [and they have a] hostile environment toward people with traditional religious beliefs."
Joffe claims that some of his friends have decided not to let their children attend a university, because campuses are so dangerous to the morals and intellect of students. Yes, shelter them, that will ensure their success. [/sarcasm] It is disturbing to me to read his contradictory statements.
Consider these two from the same article:
"The middle class believes that academics and the environment they create on campus, in politicized classrooms and generally in terms of permitting or even encouraging any type of behavior, is antithetical to the values it has struggled to convey to its kids..."
And,
"The liberal arts no longer appeal for their own sake to a wide swath of the middle class, since they no longer reflect values of free inquiry and tolerance for others."
So is the problem that students are permitted and encouraged to inquire freely about the people of the world, and the lifestyles or beliefs of people unlike themselves and their parents?
Or is the problem that students are no longer able to inquire freely about the people of the world, and the lifestyles or beliefs of people unlike themselves and their parents?
Surely Mr Joffe would say that I have missed the point. But when he claims "The first step is for academia to realize that it is they who have lost touch," any critical reader should recognize that Mr Joffe is out of touch with both academia and the average American.
What would cause academia to feel that they have lost touch with anybody? American collegiate enrollment is higher than ever before, especially in the parts of our society where it used to be an unattainable dream. American universities are the envy of the world - grab the Sept 8 Economist if you don't think so. Any private corporation would be ecstatc to have the growth and success that American universities have been having over the past several decades - academia would laugh you out of the room if you tried to make a serious argument that they have lost touch with our society as a whole, or any subgroup within it. Mr Jaffe's argument sounds naive without some hard evidence that it represents anything beyond the most extreme religious minority of our population. And frankly, I went to college with people like those Mr Jaffe claims are becoming disenfranchised. Most of them had strong enough religious convictions to get through school unscathed, or else were already losing their faith before arriving at college.
In short, there are definitely problems with higher education. I can't see that Mr Jaffe knows what any of them are.
Joffe claims that some of his friends have decided not to let their children attend a university, because campuses are so dangerous to the morals and intellect of students. Yes, shelter them, that will ensure their success. [/sarcasm] It is disturbing to me to read his contradictory statements.
Consider these two from the same article:
"The middle class believes that academics and the environment they create on campus, in politicized classrooms and generally in terms of permitting or even encouraging any type of behavior, is antithetical to the values it has struggled to convey to its kids..."
And,
"The liberal arts no longer appeal for their own sake to a wide swath of the middle class, since they no longer reflect values of free inquiry and tolerance for others."
So is the problem that students are permitted and encouraged to inquire freely about the people of the world, and the lifestyles or beliefs of people unlike themselves and their parents?
Or is the problem that students are no longer able to inquire freely about the people of the world, and the lifestyles or beliefs of people unlike themselves and their parents?
Surely Mr Joffe would say that I have missed the point. But when he claims "The first step is for academia to realize that it is they who have lost touch," any critical reader should recognize that Mr Joffe is out of touch with both academia and the average American.
What would cause academia to feel that they have lost touch with anybody? American collegiate enrollment is higher than ever before, especially in the parts of our society where it used to be an unattainable dream. American universities are the envy of the world - grab the Sept 8 Economist if you don't think so. Any private corporation would be ecstatc to have the growth and success that American universities have been having over the past several decades - academia would laugh you out of the room if you tried to make a serious argument that they have lost touch with our society as a whole, or any subgroup within it. Mr Jaffe's argument sounds naive without some hard evidence that it represents anything beyond the most extreme religious minority of our population. And frankly, I went to college with people like those Mr Jaffe claims are becoming disenfranchised. Most of them had strong enough religious convictions to get through school unscathed, or else were already losing their faith before arriving at college.
In short, there are definitely problems with higher education. I can't see that Mr Jaffe knows what any of them are.
posted by Wulf at
2:08 PM
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