On the absurdity of ‘deeply rooted’ tradition
The following is a guest contribution and reflects the author’s views alone. For information on how to submit an article to the Opinion Section, click here.
Use the fields below to perform an advanced search of The Princetonian's archives. This will return articles, images, and multimedia relevant to your query. You can also try a Basic search
5 items found for your search. If no results were found please broaden your search.
The following is a guest contribution and reflects the author’s views alone. For information on how to submit an article to the Opinion Section, click here.
I recently returned from my first international research trip since the pandemic sent us all into isolation and into little square Zoom boxes nearly 20 months ago. This was a trip I had been hoping to take for a long time, a much-anticipated return to the libraries in England that house the manuscripts which are the focus of my book-in-progress. When I received University approval to take the trip in early September, I set about booking flights and hotel rooms like I always do before travel, but this time I also had to book appointments for several COVID-19 tests.
It turns out that Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) had a plan for my third and final opinion column this semester. The College for All Act 2021, introduced last week by Sanders and Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), promises to be the #NewDeal4HigherEducation that America’s public colleges and universities need.
The COVID-19 pandemic has brought America’s public universities to the brink of collapse. I argued as much in my last column as a faculty opinion contributor for The Daily Princetonian, in which I introduced A New Deal for Higher Education, a plan to use federal dollars to reinvest in America’s public universities for the good of us all. In this column, as promised, I want to make a case for why Princeton’s students should be outspoken supporters of this plan, even though most of you, as Princeton students, won’t benefit directly.
A little bit of normal has returned to Princeton with students back on campus, and I, for one, am thrilled. I once again feel that thrum of energy that comes directly from students, that pulse of ambition and intelligence that runs from classroom to dormroom and everywhere in between. The procedures outlined for arrival on campus (though difficult, I’m sure) worked. Regular testing has helped us all feel safe. Our case numbers have stayed low. So what I really mean when I say I’m thankful that students are back is that I’m grateful that you’re back and that you’re safe. Most students at America’s universities weren’t given the opportunity to have it both ways. We owe it to those students to demand better from America’s higher education sector.