University of Virginia Library

Better Education

I really believed I could get
a better education here, in an
academic environment where
there is not just a good faculty,
but also freedom from the
pressure I fought and hated
all through college. That means
freedom from crowds, from
dirt, from lines; from hostile
townspeople; from impossible
prices; from aggressive,
mean-spirited, and overly
competitive students; from
arrogant, untouchable
professors; from the hazards
and ugliness of a big, decaying
city. And do you have the
nerve, Mr. Shannon, to tell me
that the effort to escape them
wasn't worth it? That I
shouldn't have done it? That
you don't want me here? That
you want to change the
University so no one like me
ever comes here again? Go to
hell, David Shannon!

But there is more involved
here than mere personal
resentment of the man's gross
insensitivity Who does Mr.
Shannon think he's fooling
with his incompetent— or
dissembling, or just plain
dishonest—arguments about
growth and the quality of the
University? In the first place,
take the idea that expanding its
size improves the faculty.
Princeton is considerably
smaller than the University of
Virginia. Is its faculty poorer?
Does it have more trouble
attracting excellent teachers?
Arizona State is larger than
Virginia and growing even
faster. Is its faculty better? Of
course not. The size of a
university has nothing to do
with the quality of its teachers.
Only the unique attributes and
quality of its academic
environment can attract
them—or the salaries it is
prepared to pay.

If that environment is
destroyed as a fulfilling place
for students, inevitably it will
be destroyed for the faculty,
too. And if the best students
are driven away to other
"elitist" schools which have
more to offer them, why
would good teachers want to
come? Incidentally, the first
students that leave will be those
from out of state, who pay
higher tuition. Where will the
money to pay higher faculty
salaries come from then? If the
enrollment is increased,
perhaps the legislature will
allow the University to hire
more faculty members. But
will it offer them larger salaries
than it does now, or will it
only pay enough to attract
more people of the same
quality we have already. Or
will it be so overjoyed at the
departure of the damyankee
out-of-state students that it
will vote all the professors big
raises? Or all the
administrators?