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A university president makes a case against cowardice

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451 points pseudolus | 6 comments | 03 Apr 25 12:29 UTC | HN request time: 0.433s | source | bottom
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sequoia ◴[03 Apr 25 13:52 UTC] No.43569673[source]▶
A lot of Americans support these attacks on universities. Why do people harbour this much animosity towards these institutions? Is there anything they could have done differently in the past decade or two to have broader sympathy now, or is people's ambivalence towards elite universities 100% irrational?
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disambiguation ◴[03 Apr 25 14:42 UTC] No.43570446[source]▶
The political and ideological divide speaks for itself, but on behalf of the common folk universities have been failing their core mission - to provide the people with a quality education. The inversion and disconnect between the cost of tuition and economic outcomes is stunning. Too many kids who don't know better are pressured into pursuing higher education and taking on massive debt, only to graduate without any job prospects or reasonable hopes of paying off their loans. The salt in the wounds is that universities are flush with cash, yet its spent on anything and everything except for the welfare of the students.
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1. jwjohnson314 ◴[03 Apr 25 20:23 UTC] No.43574911[source]▶
> The salt in the wounds is that universities are flush with cash, yet its spent on anything and everything except for the welfare of the students.

Maybe the elites. State schools and small colleges are not flush with cash and many have been shuttered or severely downsized recently. Though they could still spend their limited funds better.

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2. disambiguation ◴[03 Apr 25 21:43 UTC] No.43575829[source]▶
Recent events alone do not fully represent the affairs of the past 2+ decades. Community, state, ivy, all levels were gorging themselves on federal funding and endowments. I have no comment on the current admin, but blatantly inefficient use of funds is an understatement.
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3. joe5150 ◴[03 Apr 25 23:52 UTC] No.43576855[source]▶
What does "gorging themselves on endowments" even mean? If they did that, they wouldn't be very endowed in quick order.
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4. eszed ◴[04 Apr 25 14:39 UTC] No.43583110{3}[source]▶
Charitably, they may mean "the proceeds from their endowments" (or maybe "engorging their endowments", if that's even a proper use of the word), but I think that's a weak point. Proportionally very, very few institutions have significant endowments.
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5. ben7799 ◴[04 Apr 25 15:10 UTC] No.43583570[source]▶
Spending massive amounts of money on sports is something state schools are very much into.

They will shutter academic departments but continue to pay a football coach more than the University president.

Not all schools do this but it is part of the conversation, sports spending has grown out of control along with everything else.

6. disambiguation ◴[04 Apr 25 17:39 UTC] No.43585557{4}[source]▶
You're both wrong. I'm saying they're engorged AND well endowed. Many consider this a strong point.