Week 4 - Katherine Tran A01

Katherine Tran
Section 01
Week 4

Out of this week’s readings, the one that intrigued me the most was probably “Why We Should Fear University, Inc.” by Frederic deBoer. Though he does make some compelling points regarding the privatization and corporatization of universities, and public education in general, I found that, after a particular point in the article, it became less about the corporatization of higher education and more about the pros and cons of student activism and the current political and social climate. His anecdote about the community garden at Purdue was certainly a relatable way to back up his claims that capitalism has encroached upon and started to change the very foundations of how colleges and universities in the United States are operated, but once it started getting into student affairs, his tone changed rather drastically.

Or maybe, it didn’t actually, but I definitely found it much harder to read and agree after that point. Perhaps deBoer himself doesn’t realize it, but the amount of privilege he has makes itself very clear in his criticism of student activism. While I could theoretically agree with some of the points that he raises, the tone with which he writes about things like protesting against bigotry or promoting safer educational environments sours whatever good intentions he might have written this article with. Though it may seem as though he “presenting both sides of the argument,” the article’s tone suggests otherwise. It conveniently ignores the people who benefit from things like content warnings for sexual assault, or institutional protections from bigotry and sexual violence. Indeed, we cannot trust universities, or any institution, as they are currently, but some people have little other choice. Is it so bad to be in a position where the most accessible course of action is to campaign to reform the institution, as opposed to completely destroying it? And why are basic actions taken to make schools less threatening for certain students tantamount to censorship?

References:

DeBoer, Fredrick. "Why We Should Fear University, Inc." The New York Times Magazine, 9 September 2015, 1-8.

Image Credit:

Protest against visit of Steve Bannon in Chicago [Photograph found in NurPhoto, Getty Images]. (n.d.). Retrieved January 27, 2019, from https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/demonstrators-gather-at-the-university-of-chicago-to-news-photo/913787234

Photograph by Max Herman