University of Virginia Library

Re-examining The University From The Inside

By MIKE RUSSELL

I share a very vital
experience with all of the
incoming first-year people.
While not attending Mr.
Jefferson's University for the
first time, I am returning after
a "sabbatical" of eighteen
months. I do this, not because
I've been convinced of the
validity of the myth of getting
ahead; still I reserve a number
of serious questions concerning
the whole process of higher
"education" which I will share.

We've all been fed similar
stories about why we're here.
Some of us are here to avoid
being drafted; present first-year
people fortunately aren't bothered
by this myth, 'cause when the law
gets ready, y'all move. Others are
here because their parents, friends,
and other assorted pressure groups
want them to be; valid as this
reason may be it promotes activity
based in fear of disappointing these
pressure groups rather than a desire
to learn.

Still others are here for lack of
something better to do. Being in a
University atmosphere is extremely
comfortable, meals are regular,
entertainment is good, and if you
really don't care, that parchment
can be obtained with a minimum
amount of hassle.

Last, and probably least, are the
few who are here to learn, who
have questions, and suspect that
there are people around who can
answer them. Their myth is a lot
more secure than any of the others,
the unfortunate reality is that the
predominant atmosphere of almost
any university supports the earlier
myths. In fact there is a great
disparity between what is
academically feasible and what is
"socially" feasible (socially is not
completely apt, but I think you can
catch the drift).

The system of rewards (grades)
is based on a standard which has
grown from the immense needs of a
society to provide itself with ever
more efficient cogs. Thus grades
test exams etc. are really placement
exercises rather than attempts to
provide you with a discipline. The
whole myth of a liberal education is
based not on what you know
and I have known people who have
left here with a thirst for more
information. These few really
worked, they also were, many
times, mollycoddled intellectuals
whose 'intellectuality' was based on
tests, grades, etc. from high school;
i.e. those same old standardized
measurements of your fitness for
society's demands.

Finding such an education is an
arduous task. All the Bullshit
surrounding this university
mitigates against it. All real
educating experiences are ones
which change the patterns of your
behavior, and the academic life of
this University, is simply not geared
to do this. I can substantiate my
claim only by evaluating my earlier
experiences. I was misled first by
my counselor, then by nearly every
upperclassmen I spoke to, but most
of all I was dissuaded by the
professors I encountered during the
first year, who taught us only to
maintain the sizes of their research
staff. Again I would be unfair if I
did not allow for the few who
actively attempt to teach.

By the time I reached my
second year, I no longer cared.
Academia seemed a dull game
aimed to prevent me from facing
and dealing with real issues and
questions whose solution might
have provided me with a
discipline. Former Governor Mills
Godwin put it most succinctly
when he told a group of students
that they should be studying
their books rather than
attempting to change the social
structure. (They were confronting
him on the issue of a racially
segregated University of Virginia.)

So I left and spent some time
in the 'outside world.' The time I
spent travelling and trying to deal
with the problems which most
involved me taught me several
things. Perhaps the most
important was that, to alter
power structures one had to
understand how they worked,
which demanded a certain
amount of information and even
more amazingly a certain amount
of discipline.

So I came back, partly
because I liked the comfortable
atmosphere, but mostly because I
wanted to learn something. I had
questions that I thought needed
answers, and while this certainly
wasn't the only way to find
answers it did provide me with
some initiation into the
traditional disciplines. I really
don't expect much to be given to
me anymore, I suspect that to
find anything of interest I am
going to have to do some
looking, outside as well as inside
the University.

All of this article would be
irrelevant if other people weren't
likely to ask the same sort of
questions. The greatest disservice
that this University, or any other,
does to its students is to make
them think that their only viable
option is to stay in school and
'stick with it.' A closer
approximation of truth is that
learning takes place whenever and
wherever you ask questions.