Week 4_Toan Tran_A04

The article Why We Should Fear University, Inc. speaks truths that are very similar to Professor Valverde's Fight the Tower. Just as how Valverde realized that universities are now being more and more run like corporations, Boer feels exactly the same way where they speak about how more senior administrators are being hired than professors, resulting in this corporate university environment. I wonder how severe it is in UC Davis' case but with aspects of the campus being prioritized over other parts such as the new buildings like California Hall over renovations needed at the Science Lecture Hall or Peter Rock Hall. The examples in the article of students speaking out for what they believe is right from what they learned throughout their classes such as the islamophobia shown in a film screening and them being criticized as being oversensitive is a good representation of this corporatization. The university administrations do not pay enough attention and do not do enough for the structural racism and sexism as well as other inequalities still present in colleges across the nation (DeBoer, 3). Another example in this case of UC Davis is when the smokes of the Butte County fires spread far across Northern California when it reached our city. On one of the first few days of the smoke, classes were still continuing and students were still expected to come to class while the air quality index was in the hazardous numbers. I would assume that the university would be considerate enough to cancel classes the next day with the air quality forecast available to anyone with internet access but I suppose that the university was trying its best to save money from the closure of the campus. I am grateful that our school's administration came to their senses after a campus wide petition was put up, but I know that it can only be better from this point on as the university learns from its mistakes.

Question: What else can we do as students to undo this corporatization of the very universities we go to?





References:

Corporatization of Universities - Google Search. https://www.google.com/search?q=corporatization+of+universities&rlz=1C5CHFA_enUS789US789&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiE9M7uy4_gAhWSDHwKHcHkCSEQ_AUIDygC#imgrc=fPv1ABy1Hx2LUM: Accessed 27 Jan. 2019.

DeBoer, F. (2015). Why We Should Fear University, Inc.: Against the corporate taming of the American College. The New York Times Magazine. Retrieved 27 Jan. 2019.
from https://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/13/magazine/why-we-should-fear-university-inc.html