Written by:
dperel

In the nation's service? A perspective on challenging the status quo on campus

If nothing else, a university environment should inspire and motivate students to put their talents to use for the best causes when they leave their ivory towers. Yet, the comfort and culture of the ivory tower often inhibit just that. Living on bubble-like campuses, dreaming of high entry salaries upon graduation, students easily slip into mistaking the purpose of their education for just another mandatory stage in moving through our structured society. When they leave, many graduates will seek employment in large corporations, doing the bidding of high-up bosses with the aim of retiring comfortably one day. This uncritical passage through the university system produces legions of conformists, the majority of whom will be swallowed by the anonymity of the corporate ladder. If a university is to produce anything other than fodder for the job market, the onus is upon administration and faculty leaders to open student's eyes to the injustices of the society that raised them in order that some be inspired to challenge the status quo.

While courses in liberal arts institutions have evolved to provoke critical social thought, the academic culture of most universities lacks a motivating ethos. At best, urges for students to "challenge" themselves and to "go beyond" what they thought they could do, are expounded at commencements and graduations. Such hollow encouragement is meaningless rhetoric. Rather, if universities want to produce the thinkers and movers who shape society and culture instead of conforming to it, administration and faculty should launch a deliberate campaign to open students' eyes to the problems of our society. Business students should learn how many large enterprises leach subsidies and tax breaks from the government only to move their operations overseas, wreaking havoc upon the concept of a free market all the while. Law students should question the ethics of producing tax and regulatory code so complicated that competent enforcement is virtually impossible. Politics majors must be made aware of the oligarchic effect of corporate money in politics as well as the socialistic impact of a self-aggrandizing government. If such concerns aren't brought to light on a daily basis in our universities, whose good does a top-notch education serve?

Thanks to Picasa for the photo.