How Has Education Enriched Your Life?
A Saturday Prompt
I’ve been lingering over the hopeful words this week of conservative Judge J. Michael Luttig that Harvard University’s refusal to capitulate to Trump is of “momentous significance” and should be “the turning point”—empowering universities, law firms and other institutions to push back against the vengeful regime. It was encouraging to see that Columbia University’s acting president, Claire Shipman, released a statement less than 12 hours after Harvard’s opposition insisting that her university would reject “heavy-handed orchestration” and would not “relinquish our independence and autonomy.” This came after an earlier surrendering agreement by Columbia, which was hit by the Trump regime’s pledge to cancel $400 million in federal grants and contracts.
Trump has pretended that antisemitism on college campuses is the reason for this assault on higher education, but it’s obvious that this is being cynically exploited as a bludgeon to wrest control, limit freedom of thought and diversity, and replace it with a white nationalist agenda that denies many of the harsh realities of our American history. We can all take nourishment from the defiance of Harvard, the nation’s oldest and richest university, founded in 1636 with an endowment that exceeds $52 billion. “The university will not surrender its independence or relinquish its constitutional rights,” Harvard President Alan Garber wrote this week, then underscored that it must be up to private universities to decide what they teach and study.
Garber’s additional statements also led me to reflect on the productive role that higher education plays in the lives of millions of Americans and in producing research that expands knowledge, seeks life-saving medical solutions and simply helps us make sense of a world that too often seems overwhelming or incomprehensible. Education—and particularly public education—is a critical driver in socio-economic development, positively affecting employability, earnings and health outcomes. Personally, I credit my college education for expanding my mind and ability to think analytically, which has made it possible for me to have a fruitful intellectual and creative life in a variety of fields.
“Freedom of thought and inquiry,” Garber wrote, “along with the government’s longstanding commitment to respect and protect it, has enabled universities to contribute in vital ways to a free society and to healthier, more prosperous lives for people everywhere. All of us share a stake in safeguarding that freedom. We proceed now, as always, with the conviction that the fearless and unfettered pursuit of truth liberates humanity….”
The pursuit of truth and the liberation of humanity must be at the top of the agenda of a democratic society—critical antidotes to this authoritarian regime’s determination to quash free thought, our ability to know what is true or false, and freedom and humanity itself. I hadn’t anticipated that Harvard would be a leading force in the opposition to the Trump regime, but I’m cheering its role as a turning point in the refusal to capitulate.
So what do you think? Is this week a turning point? How important is the survival of independent colleges and universities? And more personally, how has education enriched your life? Feel free to share stories about your experience.
As always, I look forward to reading your observations and insights and the opportunity of this community to learn from each other. Please do be respectful in your remarks. Trolling will not be tolerated.
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I’ve always said that my liberal arts education taught me how to think, to evaluate, to consider. There’s nothing more valuable.
I am a teacher, so I may be biased. Education taught me to be a critical thinker. One of my greatest professors was a professor of Islamic architecture. I did a summer abroad with him in Istanbul. I remember going with him to the Edirne Mosque, one of the most beautiful of Sinan's mosques. Inside, he told us there were 18 "mistakes" or unlikely changes made to the mosque over the years. Our job was to find them. We spent a long time looking around the mosque, coming to him with our ideas. He would often just ask us more questions such as, "What did you expect to see?" or "How do you think that they should have done it?" . And I remember the feeling of pride when he looked at you said, "That is very insightful."
This became the model for my teaching for the last 38 years. Ask questions, rather than making definitive statements. Be able to justify your thinking. And propose solutions, don't just criticize. A master teacher who went beyond having us memorize and then identify the typical characteristics of a 16th century Ottoman mosque.