Natalie Hill: Week 4, Section A01

Frederik deBoer’s article, “Why We Should Fear University, Inc.”, really resonated with me. I have always noticed the way UC Davis allocates more of their funding toward aesthetic projects, such as a brand new exercise facility and fancy buildings to attract wealthy university donors. At the same time that UC Davis administrators pour money into making campus look like, what Frederik deBoer so cleverly calls it, “a luxury hotel”, the basic needs of students continue to be cast aside. For example, with the growing admission of students every year, more and more study spaces continue to become filled up. Not only that, but most of the study spaces that are available on campus lack the availability of outlets that all students require in order to finish their class assignments. One needs to merely observe the Memorial Union around lunchtime to see how impacted UC Davis has become as a result of the university’s for-profit agenda.

Despite having witnessed the corporate-like behavior of the university first-hand, I had never thought that the university’s for-profit nature would have contributed to the sterilization of thought on college campuses across the country. I agree with deBoer in that I also believe that the way in which students view themselves in relation to administration has changed since the 1960s. College students were up in arms during the Vietnam War, going to great lengths to protest against it despite the university’s and US government’s attempt to stifle them. Now, however, many of my peers are so focused on just making it through college financially and academically, that they don’t have the energy to take on the added stress of fighting against a system that has so much leverage against them as a student that pays for their education. All UC Davis students would have to rally together against university administration in order to create change, as we did when we forced ex-Chancellor Katehi out of administration. However, Katehi is only a small figure within a larger corporate system. The quality of the education students receive at their universities will continue to plummet as university administrations continue to ignore student and faculty needs and prioritize their ever-growing desire for profit.    

References:

1. DeBoer, F. (2015, September 9 ). Why We Should Fear University, Inc. . The New York Times Magazine. Retrieved October 15, 2017.

2. [Digital image]. (2013, January 25). Retrieved October 15, 2017, from

https://attackthesystem.com/2013/01/25/the-corporatization-of-higher-education/