Where Has the American College Gone?

The 2016 election has been the topic of many discussions and for good reason. The candidates this election cycle have generated monumental amounts of interest amongst the masses, ranging from the obvious politically astute to those who aren’t as politically savvy. And while the dimwitted make a mockery of the United States government and politics, one man stands out for demonstrating the potential of this country and veering an entire generation towards those values. That man is Bernie Sanders. He has brought crony capitalism to the forefront, a system that will no longer go unchallenged when the finance sector laughs off fines as poor people lose their homes. Unfortunately, establishment politicians and conservatives see the Bernie Sanders movement as nothing more than kids who want a free lunch. And a free lunch for everyone doesn’t sound too bad. These kids know nothing’s really free. These kids know things won’t get better unless they get better for everyone — unless everyone can eat.

As a young Persian woman balancing the very many challenges and obstacles that come with obtaining a college education in this country, I wanted to learn more on what it would take for college to be free. Having the opportunity to research this topic for sixteen weeks, proved scholarly articles were my greatest ally through this rigorous process. And where better to get information than from academics in the very field I intended on acquiring a greater depth of knowledge on. What started off as a quest for the facts and figures on making college free transpired into a far deeper insight on higher education.

The college atmosphere is changing and not for the better. Articles upon articles manifested the grave conditions our college campuses face. Many students including myself just want some accountability on the spiraling costs of higher education. And oh, how I’ve evolved from fighting against the college bureaucracy to fighting for the very life of the institution. As these corporate colleges corrode any reverence they once held, we must remember that it was the failure of the college community to defend its democratic ideals against corporate America that has led to state of these institutions today. The tenure-track professor doesn’t care about the exploitation of the adjunct professor, the adjunct professor doesn’t care about the outsourcing of campus services that are contracted out or privatized, and the campus worker doesn’t care about the student who is seen as nothing more than a patron consumer. There is no solidarity. Unless there is unity from every part of the college community there will be no effective change.

As Steven Salaita says, “If academics refuse to fight, then we don’t inhabit a profession worth saving.” We must recognize how far colleges have gotten from their purpose of providing a higher education. We must recognize that as endowment growth continues to balloon colleges are paying minimum wage to PhDs and tuitions are ever increasing. We must recognize that colleges are havens of dissent and not allow capitalists to silence us into corporate hegemony. We cannot and will not let these historical institutions whose culture is a culture of resistance to the status quo be overtaken by corporate machines.