The 'Wisconsin Idea' Is More Important Than Ever In Higher Education Willard Dix , CONTRIBUTOR Stripping higher education, especially public higher education, of anything but pragmatic, technical or transactional courses completely undermines the mission of a college or university. The ongoing controversy over the proposed curriculum changes at the University of Wisconsin--Stevens Point spotlights the importance of genuinely comprehensive education, especially in the political and social climate now roiling around us. In trying to eliminate its humanities departments in favor of strictly job-training courses, the UWSP leadership not only violates just about every tenet of the revered "Wisconsin Idea," it also plays into a political climate that values form over substance, ignorance over knowledge, belief over science and facile responses to complex questions.
In a nutshell, the Wisconsin Idea, having emanated from the Madison campus, provides
A learning environment in which faculty, staff and students can discover, examine critically, preserve and transmit the knowledge, wisdom and values that will help ensure the survival of this and future generations and improve the quality of life for all. The university seeks to help students to develop an understanding and appreciation for the complex cultural and physical worlds in which they live and to realize their highest potential of intellectual, physical and human development.
As significant, in 1904, Wisconsin's President Charles Van Hise stated unequivocally that he would "never be content until the beneficent influence of the university reaches every family in the state." In that Progressive-era formulation, every citizen of Wisconsin would be able to benefit from the knowledge and discoveries created at the University, and, by extension, others in the nation and the world.
In 2015, Wisconsin's Gov. Scott Walker (who lacks a college degree), proposed a $300 million budget cut to the university system. Language in the budget document whittled the university's mission from "searching for truth" and "improving the human condition," to meeting "the state's workforce needs." The general uproar that followed caused him to back off the change and claim it was a "drafting error," but the intent was clear: We don't need no stinkin' thinkers, just drones who will do what they're told and not question their superiors. As a matter of fact, we don't even want them to know how to question in the first place.
This situation isn't new, of course. States have been dismantling their higher education systems for years. Most notably, California's system, once a model for the rest of the country, has descended into chaos and penury. The canary has been choking pretty badly in this coal mine. That makes it all the more important for every college and university, not just public institutions, especially in this era of reality-denial, to support the ideals expressed in Wisconsin over 100 years ago.
Questioning forms the basis of thought and education, and whether you're a plumber or a professor, it is an essential part of human experience and progress. In its mission statement, Wisconsin speaks of transmitting the knowledge and values that will "ensure the survival of this and future generations and improve the quality of life for all." In these times of global warming, population pressures, and all the other dangers that beset the human race, these values are more important than ever. And they can be found and debated in Euripides, Whitman, Angelou, McCullough, DaVinci, Rodriguez, Curie, DuBois, and on and on. History is NOT bunk; we live in it, are influenced by it and forget it at our peril.
Stripping higher education, especially public higher education, of anything but pragmatic, technical or transactional courses completely undermines the mission of a college or university. Doing so changes an institution's mission from creating thoughtful humans and participating citizens to stamping out cogs for a machine. As Christine Evans wrote in the New York Times,
The humanities train critical thinkers and citizens. That may be inconvenient for politicians who see their constituents as merely a “work force,” but it is definitely good for our democracy, as well as our economy.
I'm often disheartened when I work with high school students taught primarily through worksheets and fill-in-the-blank exercises. They can find an "answer" in a passage but have no idea what the passage means or why it might be important. They're taught the mechanics of literature but never given a chance to discuss what it might say or the ideas behind it. Since the arts have been cut in many public schools, they have no experience of the power of music, theater or painting much less the occasion to discuss what it might mean.
I see their brains being hardened into bricks instead of fertilized to reach their highest potential, which can only come from constant questioning and exposure to the as-yet-unknown. If they don't get it before, they should be exposed to it in college. The assault on higher education in the form of massive budget cuts and equating it with only pragmatism isn't about saving money, it's about cutting off the ability to think. It's a nihilism that denies the future, negating one of the Wisconsin Idea's greatest tenets, which is both intellectual and practical: "Generate new knowledge through a broad array of scholarly, research and creative endeavors, which provide a foundation for dealing with the immediate and long-range needs of society."
On March 12, UWSP's chancellor, Bernie Patterson, insisted, "The liberal arts are not going away." He suggested that a false narrative has been created, but he also left a hint that this isn't the end of the effort to eliminate them: "All of our current students, and all who begin in the fall of 2018, will be able to complete their chosen degree path. Even if some majors are discontinued eventually, students will have every opportunity to complete their degrees in these programs." The faculty at Stevens Point and elsewhere have been and will continue to be vigilant. The life of the Wisconsin Idea and the future of public higher education hang in the balance. |
