William Deresiewicz speaks on the true value of a college education

 

Four years is all we have here at Notre Dame.  Four short years to attend class, study assiduously, engage with our courses, and partake in an academic discourse meant to sharpen and grow our minds.  Our education is in our hands, and it is our responsibility to foster personal learning both in and outside of the classroom.  Indeed, college is just as much about educating the mind as it is about achieving self-awareness.  Yet at times, these experiences we so hungrily crave from our liberal arts education have become rare.

This past Thursday, William Deresiewicz, the author of Excellent Sheep: Miseducation of the American Elite and the Way to a Meaningful Life, received a warm reception from the administration and students.  Known for his indictment of the transactional and vocational spirit that has come to dominate American elite education, Deresiewicz spoke to a crowd of over 400 students, professors, and staff.

He posited that students these days “lack the tools to connect their lives to their education.”  With so much emphasis placed on careerism, credentialism, and vocation, he argued, students are highly adept at jumping through hoops, yet lack the ability to self-direct.  College has evolved into a stepping-stone for students to reach their first job.

By stripping away the purpose of education, which—in essence—should be for its own sake, we deprive our time here at Notre Dame of its truly humanistic nature.  If papers, lectures, and labs are merely a means to an end, are we really learning?  Are these routine activities geared towards getting the grade that will earn us the grade point average that will land us a job that will make us “successful”?  Those who disagree might say that we will not remember everything we learn in class, yet the value of what we learn is not solely measured in what we commit to memory.  The concepts, theories, and facts we discover in our readings, academic or not, merely guide us to pursue further self-determination and understanding.

Nevertheless, the value of self-reflection and engagement with the “meaning” of one’s classes is constantly questioned, for the definition of what is meaningful is not predicated on enjoyment or passion; rather it is centered on utility.  Deresiewicz argued that the neo-liberalism of the 1970s and 1980s cemented the need to seek a formal “return on investment” in higher education.  Socializing us to become consumers seeking goods to be consumed in the marketplace, this mindset places a monetary value on all things, including the marketability of human production.

As such, a degree in certain majors is thought to make us more marketable.  Indeed, today’s top 10 college majors correlate with the top 10 most “employable” fields.  Yes, most need to get jobs after college, but—to quote Deresiewicz—we “need to get a life” as well.  To view education in a purely career-oriented light forsakes its cognitive and moral lessons.  Cognition—didactic learning, as he called it—is a byproduct of attending, and engaging in, class.  Yet Deresiewicz’s most salient point is that the moral lessons learned inside and outside the classroom are the true end of a college education.

These lessons do not just prepare us to make decisions regarding right and wrong; rather, the moral lessons of a college education provide us with the tools to make choices by ourselves and for ourselves.

A deafening silence reverberated through the packed lecture hall as Deresiewicz paused before concluding his talk.  Clearly, the former academic had tapped into “a hunger” that ravages students who struggle and yearn to find meaning in their education.  College is a privileged time, separate from the real world, wherein we can reflect upon our learning’s ability to fulfill and liberate us from the devaluation of the human spirit common in today’s working world.

Soft spoken, Deresiewicz almost sighed when he ended his talk by saying, “to ask what college is for is to ask what people are for.”  Both provide us insight into the human condition and deliver us from assumption and orthodoxy.  As sons and daughters of Notre Dame, let us not languish in the vocational spirit that has blanketed this campus in recent years.  Rather, as Deresiewicz encouraged in his conclusion, let us covet the grain of sand that is our education and “make it into a pearl” of personal learning and understanding in order to forge a better community.

Daara Jalili is a sophomore living in St. Edwards Hall, majoring in neuroscience and behavior and minoring in education, schooling, and society.  He enjoys rowing for the Fighting Irish and reading the newspaper daily.  Contact him at djalili@nd.edu.