The End

Today is the last day of my summer school class. With it ends my time teaching at a public university, at least for the next several years. This seems an appropriate time to share some thoughts on why that's a sad thing to me.

I am a product of public higher ed. I did 12 years of Catholic school, but then when I was 18 I (belatedly) entered the world of state-funded education. And I'm incredibly glad I did. Public universities are usually far more diverse places than private ones. But that's far from the only reason they're important.

Public higher ed provides opportunities like nothing else in the country. It's a place where a kid from, say, rural eastern Kentucky can go and discover he has a passion for Shakespeare. Or that she's fascinated by anthropology. Or that she loves acting so much that she can't just leave it on the high school stage. This is why it's so vital that the humanities, fine arts, & social sciences continue to exist at public four-year colleges. It's what makes college different than community college or vocational school. And EVERYONE should have the opportunity to have that breadth of exploration and investigation, not merely the kids who's parents can afford it and, therefore, were likely already exposed to a lot of this stuff. Just because a kid comes from a less-than-affluent background is no reason to tell them that they must pick a major that will guarantee a job upon graduation.

One of the great accomplishments of our nation in the second half of the 20th century was the way privilege, especially educational privilege, was democratized. That very democraticization is under threat now, as states attempt to find more money by cutting humanities & fine arts departments that don't bring money into the university system, while also hiking up tuition and cutting financial aid. Allowing these practices to reach their natural conclusion would undo a wonderful trend that, among other things, allowed myself & a good friend, with one bachelor's degree among our 4 parents, to become a college professor & a doctor.

This is why I'll (almost certainly) have one eye on the job ads at my new school. Public higher ed is too important to me for this to be my final goodbye.