The Commercialization Of Global Educational Institutions
Thomas Sikkema
Professor Monica Robinson
WRT 150
15 April 2015
The Price Is Wrong As I walk down North Campus Drive I notice many familiar names. Not names of activists nor names of presidents but names of people with high financial value. Why must we override the value of the ones who taught us what values are? I wake up every morning wondering why I am in this predicament. Or at least I think it’s hypocritical when universities tell us how important people like George Washington, Martin Luther King Jr., Susan B. Anthony, and Rosa Parks are to our country and society but still force us to believe the names scattered up and down North Campus Drive are our future employers and are the all-powerful. At this time I still believe in what I was taught in elementary school. The history is our future. The men and women who built our values and beliefs left the footprints I will follow. However, I am slowly losing that same sense of hope in many of my peers along with my future co-workers and acquaintances. The commercialization of global educational institutions as well as in the United States is affecting the quality of postsecondary education as well as diminishing our freedoms, community, and diversity on college campuses that so many colleges strive to achieve. Author of “What’s the Matter with College”, Rick Perlstein takes the stance that times have changed and large corporations in fact do need to be commercialized into colleges and universities. Commercialization is to emphasize the profitable aspects of, especially at the expense of quality (Dictionary.com). In his essay he interviews many college students and ask for their opinion on different topics regarding how drastically the “college experience” has changed. In a specific part of the reading he speaks with Jonathan Hirsch, the president of Chicago Friends of Israel, “a recognized student organization at the University of Chicago that promotes Israel awareness on campus through political, cultural, and
Professor Monica Robinson
WRT 150
15 April 2015
The Price Is Wrong As I walk down North Campus Drive I notice many familiar names. Not names of activists nor names of presidents but names of people with high financial value. Why must we override the value of the ones who taught us what values are? I wake up every morning wondering why I am in this predicament. Or at least I think it’s hypocritical when universities tell us how important people like George Washington, Martin Luther King Jr., Susan B. Anthony, and Rosa Parks are to our country and society but still force us to believe the names scattered up and down North Campus Drive are our future employers and are the all-powerful. At this time I still believe in what I was taught in elementary school. The history is our future. The men and women who built our values and beliefs left the footprints I will follow. However, I am slowly losing that same sense of hope in many of my peers along with my future co-workers and acquaintances. The commercialization of global educational institutions as well as in the United States is affecting the quality of postsecondary education as well as diminishing our freedoms, community, and diversity on college campuses that so many colleges strive to achieve. Author of “What’s the Matter with College”, Rick Perlstein takes the stance that times have changed and large corporations in fact do need to be commercialized into colleges and universities. Commercialization is to emphasize the profitable aspects of, especially at the expense of quality (Dictionary.com). In his essay he interviews many college students and ask for their opinion on different topics regarding how drastically the “college experience” has changed. In a specific part of the reading he speaks with Jonathan Hirsch, the president of Chicago Friends of Israel, “a recognized student organization at the University of Chicago that promotes Israel awareness on campus through political, cultural, and