Introduction
It is clear with the conclusion of Unit II that elitism and neoliberalism effectively influence many aspects of the University of Virginia. This is seen after critical analysis of UVA’s civic culture reflected in its governance and structure curriculum, service learning, extracurricular and leadership initiatives, and diversity.
Governance and Structure Curriculum The governance and structure curriculum at UVA has undoubtedly felt the effects of elitism and neoliberalism. These two aspects were seen clearly in The Presidential Succession Crisis at the University of Virginia in 2012. In this episode, President Teresa Sullivan was ousted in a coup by the Board of Visitors. Hence, the process in which President Sullivan was removed,
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This is shown due to the fact that UVA has trended toward privatization and corporatization and away from public control. Furthermore, UVA is seen as “a great money making engine” which is evident in the Darden School(Kirp). Darden frequently works to achieve high rankings, in order to attract more students, who they see as consumers of their product. These consumers are pitched the idea that if they come to Darden, then high paying jobs can be acquired due to the skills that they attained in the school and the reputation of the school …show more content…
With emphasis put on efficiency, Student Council has had their power lessened to the point where many feel that they have no real influence. Manja Klemencic would characterize this as, an authoritarian-paternalistic approach in which a student government is integrated into the institutional structure and given limited discretion for involvement on issues strictly concerning students (such as student services, teaching quality) and only in an advisory rather than co-decision capacity(Klemencic)
To clarify, student government and specifically student council has very little funding and outside help needed to have real influence at the University. Additionally, many feel certain leaders are pushed by the University because they will not challenge the status quo or aggravate administrations desires.
Diversity
The diversity within the University of Virginia is affected by elitism. This fact is easily seen in the statistic that two-thirds of UVA’s student body comes from the top twenty percent of income earners in the United States. Additionally, we see that some of these students join organizations that act elite in nature and are out of touch concerning the historical racial struggle at the University. Specifically, there was a fraternity that held a halloween party to which “two members came in blackface, dressed as the tennis players Venus and Serena Williams”(Childs, Nguyen, and
“College campuses are not dominated by widespread racial/ethnic segregation and the racial/ethnic clustering that does occur isn’t impeding intergroup contact.” (578, Hoeffner and Hoeffner). Throughout the essay, the writer continues to provide facts and sources on the information that diversity is not a problem on college campuses. She quotes evidence that states that college students are getting a “variety of positive educational outcomes that result from being educated in a diverse environment.” (578, Hoeffner and Hoeffner).
In 1994, renowned college professor Nikki Giovanni published an awe-inspiring article. It contains guidance to black college students on how to academically apply themselves in college, and she teaches them how to deal with the ignorance of white people, from sharp tongued comebacks to gaining a professor’s respect. Along the way, the article “Campus Racism 101” states Giovanni has acquired a tenure, she has a teaching position for life, at the predominately white student body Virginia Tech (Giovanni 11). Nikki Giovanni’s “Campus Racism 101” uses logic when giving advice to black students on how to succeed in college, appeals to Giovanni’s credibility, and appeals to the emotions of racism all in order to educate how black college students need to deal with ignorance on a college campus.
What stands out about American universities today? Is it the academic opportunities offered to students, experienced faculty, or strong sense of community? Or...perhaps they have lost their focus. It is not uncommon for universities to focus their efforts and budgets elsewhere; by building state of the art gyms, for example, remodeling luxury dorms, grooming campuses, or creating more management positions. College students and professors alike are subject to the nationally occurring changes in higher level education. Colleges are becoming commercialized and tuition is rising, but is the quality of education improving? In “Why We Should Fear University, Inc.”, Fredrik DeBoer is able to provide a personal take on the issue of corporate domination
Returning to his old high school after having had graduate ten years ago, Shamus Rahman Khan came in with one goal: to study the inequality of a school that claims to be more “diverse.” St. Paul’s School located in Concord, New Hampshire claims to have become more diverse over the years, accepting people of different racial backgrounds and social classes to their prestigious boarding school. However, as described in his book, Khan found that this claim made by the school is false. He also found out that the elite that used to attend his school is not the same as the elite attending it now. Nonetheless, it was the elite that were succeeding because they were the ones who could afford the school, had family linages that already attended the school, and mastered “ease” which made them privileged in society. Separating his book into five different chapters, each focusing on a different topic that helps support his claim, Khan describes this change in elite and the inequality that still accompanies St. Paul’s. In the introduction to Privilege: The Making of an Adolescent Elite at St. Paul’s School, Khan states the three most important points he will refer to during the rest of the book: hierarchies are natural and can be used to one’s advantage, experiences matter more than inherited qualities, and the elite signal their status through ease and openness. These are discussed thoroughly in throughout Privilege.
When a person presently looks at university school systems, one never imagines the struggle to obtain such diverse campuses. With Caucasians, Asians, Latinos, and African Americans all willing and able to attend any institution, it is difficult now to envision a world where, because of one’s skin color, a person is denied university acceptance. In actuality, this world existed only fifty years ago. In a time of extreme racial discrimination, African Americans fought and struggled toward one of many goals: to integrate schools. As a pioneer in the South, a man named James Meredith took a courageous step by applying to the University of Mississippi, an all white university. After overcoming many legal and social obstacles, the University of Mississippi’s integration sent positive effects rippling among universities across the nation.
A major part of every college campus is the Greek system. Although, many times it goes unnoticed there is major segregation among the fraternities and sororities in the south. Why is such an important issue often overlooked? We need to be more aware of segregation because in many cases it causes conflict. What if an African American wanted to join a traditionally white fraternity or sorority or vise versa? The chances of him/her getting in are pretty slim. In fact, it would be most likely that they would not. The walls of race and the barriers from so-called ?traditions? in the Greek system should be broken in order to diversify the organizations and lead to the changes necessary to end segregation and discrimination for good.
My paper will conclude by considering the influence of honors programs as well as multi-ethnic and multi-cultural student bodies and faculties on the future directions of the historically black college. INTRODUCTION The freedmen and women of the Ante-Bellum South had a thirst and hunger for knowledge known by few; often learning from another freedman who had just learned to read himself, freed slaves attended schools in the evenings and on weekends.... ... middle of paper ...
Roebuck, Julian B., and Komanduri S. Murty. Historically Black Colleges and Universities: Their Place in American Higher Education. Westport: Praeger, 1993. Print.
In recent years, under the combined force of technological innovation and market operation, our society has made remarkable progress in improving the quality of education. Universities as the major institutions of higher education are inevitably impacted by the social advancement. In his essay, “On the Uses of a Liberal Education,” Mark Edmundson argues that “university culture, like American culture writ large, is, to put it crudely, ever more devoted to consumption and entertainment, to the using and using up of goods and images” (44). He claims that college education gradually loses its traditional culture under the influence of social changes. Yet university as a significant element in society cannot be viewed separately from that society. A process of dynamic reallocation in which educational resources are redistributed towards
The report, Higher Education for American Democracy, triggered changes in federal policies and subsequently the universities followed suit. Members of the commission arg...
“Who’s going to step up?”. “Who’s going to change this?”. People ask these questions everyday. I realize that I have never truly thought about the defining characteristics of a leader. I was given a list of qualities and upon reading it, I proudly realized that I demonstrate leadership. But the important consideration should not be how I successfully match this definition, but instead why I do it. I was elected treasurer for the class of 2016, a student body elected official, and hold that position of responsibility by attending meetings weekly, promoting school activities (such as homecoming), and participating in student council planning and events as much as possible. I wanted to become treasurer because I wanted a say in decisions that impacted our class. I wanted to be recognized as an individual that my peers could come to with questions and concerns.
Brown, Tamara L., Gregory Parks, and Clarenda M. Phillips. African American Fraternities and Sororities: The Legacy and the Vision. Lexington: University of Kentucky, 2005. Print.
Clegg, expanding on the expense of discrimination towards scholars, displays how discrimination has a single benefit: diversity. Likewise, Abigail Fisher, plaintiff in the recent case Fisher v. University of Texas, has better grades than the average needed to gain admission for African-American and Hispanic students, yet was rejected from the University of Texas. Fisher, who is white, was forced to attend the l...
When diversity is being discussed, there are a plethora of ideas that are associated with it. Whether people are talking being put on a waitlist for college, about people of color, or about representation in the media, the subject of diversity is not rare. Recently, the conversation of diversity has become more common because colleges want to demonstrate that they have diversified campus. How would diversity on campus be defined? Most importantly, diversity is more than having an extraordinary personality. Race, gender, sexuality, and social status are a few of the superfluous traits that make an individual unique in a college’s eyes. In Sophia Kerby’s article, “10 Reasons Why We Need Diversity on College Campuses”, she notes that, while there has already been an effort to diversify high schools and middle schools, accepting students of different backgrounds is not as apparent in higher education (1) . A university desires to diversify its campus in order to benefit the students that are attending the college. Students are not only likely to improve
Lake, P. F. (2013). The rights and responsibilities of the modern university: Who assumes the