The end of summer, and another fall convocation, as colleges and universities begin another academic year, and so do I, in my 38th year of teaching, my 33rd at Baldwin Wallace University, where I also was once a student myself, over 50 years ago. I find myself thinking about what it means to belong to an institution for that long, and about the endurance of a university over such a long period of time. Baldwin Wallace was founded in 1845: Marting Hall, which houses the English Department, was built in 1896. How many classes have been taught in its rooms since then?
We should all be concerned about the future of higher education in the old sense of education in the liberal arts and sciences instead of vocational training, which most state legislatures understand post-secondary education to mean. I have heard from Ohioans that the state constitution stipulates that there be a college within some distance of every inhabitant. -- I think it was fifty miles. That's quit a commitment to citizens and their tax dollars.
We should all be concerned about the future of higher education in the old sense of education in the liberal arts and sciences instead of vocational training, which most state legislatures understand post-secondary education to mean. I have heard from Ohioans that the state constitution stipulates that there be a college within some distance of every inhabitant. -- I think it was fifty miles. That's quit a commitment to citizens and their tax dollars.