Education and Impunity: Still for the privileged
Published Sunday, April 02, 2006 by joel | E-mail this post
This
story, although still under investigation (meaning that, yes, innocent until proven quilty), typifies the continued class privilege that higher education is embued with. And further magnified by the racism that is still present in these elite universities, especially those in poor towns.
On Wednesday night this week, a caller to WUNC's public radio program, "The State of Things," said that Duke treats the town like a plantation.
Needless to say, something needs to change in our institutions of higher education. While this may seem like athletes gone wild, or as the athletic director put,
"Unfortunately," Alleva said, "sometimes young men have bad judgment", I believe it be emblematic of something more pervasive within these institutions and the mentality of those that have. And that is a sense of impunity.
Don't you think education is not always for the masses? Not every person is fit out to go to college. Not every person is fit for academia. But, in our current format, if you have the cash, you can be an academic. My friend Chris, who has wanted to be an academic for quite a few years is not turned off as he's starting to finish his Masters program and paying some of his way through as a reader/grader of one of the philosophy professors. He's apalled at some of the students and how they even made it into college. Just something I thought about when I read this =P Love you Joely!
Don't you think education is not always for the masses? Not every person is fit out to go to college. Not every person is fit for academia. But, in our current format, if you have the cash, you can be an academic. My friend Chris, who has wanted to be an academic for quite a few years is not turned off as he's starting to finish his Masters program and paying some of his way through as a reader/grader of one of the philosophy professors. He's apalled at some of the students and how they even made it into college. Just something I thought about when I read this =P Love you Joely!
Yeah, i totally agree. Since i'm knee deep in the grad application process, i've become dismayed at how expensive it is and how it is still designed around where you went and who you know. and i love you, too.