You can read the story here. It's a quick and easy read, and I'd like for you to check it out when you have a minute.
 |
| Self-Governance...and muffins! |
My question for you guys is whether Grinnell's policy should truly be considered utopian - or do we as a society just overuse the idea of utopia to mean anything that is socially commendable?
The goal at Grinnell College seems to be to create a society that prepares students for their role in the wider community by 'putting students on their honor'. Students are expected to work things out independently, be socially responsible and take responsibility for their actions. In this way, the intention of the college seems to be to create a better society than the one we live in and it could be considered utopian.
ReplyDeleteFurthermore, I think this is being more than just socially commendable because the intention of the college is to form a community that shares values. In this way, the college could also be considered an intentional community (Sargent's definition appears to be that broad!). The college has more than five people that come from more than one nuclear family that have chosen to live together (or were chosen to live together) to be socially engaged and further their education.
I think it comes down to whether or not the students themselves think they are part of an intentional community trying to create a society better than the one they lived in before school or if they are practicing living socially commendable lives. Attempting to apply Sargent's criteria to a real, live college is difficult because of the vagueness of the criteria and the 1600 intentions, attitudes and purposes within the student body, not to mention those of the faculty and administration of the college.
Wow. I am amazed that there is a college that allows students to "self-govern". At most schools the go to solution is "call campus security". It takes a special type of person to accept the terms of self governing. (I was personally a fan of run away I just broke something.)
ReplyDeleteI am starting to think the idea of utopia is over used. Everyone wants to create a perfect living situation and they believe their's is the best. Many of the readings we have had the author seems to believe they are right and every other idea on utopia is wrong. It gets to be a little much.
I find it interesting that even with the self governing ideal on campus there is still a lot of "it depends". How can this be considered an ideal situation if it all depends? It ties back into the idea that a utopia isn't cut and dry it is in a constant state of change and adaptation for society.
Its great in theory but like the article says "elite private campus of 1,600 students." Later on they state it would not work on a large scale campus. This is especially true if the college has a large section involved in Greek life. Call me crazy but, I do not believe that the TEK's would be able to self-govern themselves.
ReplyDeleteThe self governance is a great idea on paper. Letting the students handle problems on their own, let them build a sense of freedom and responsibility. Sounds good. But on every campus, no matter how selective you are in your admissions process, their are always those students who will take advantage of the "self-gov" society. Furthermore, students wont listen to their peers. If there was a problem with vandalism on campus and a fellow student confronted the vandals and reprimanded them for what they did, no one would take them seriously. Students have a hard enough time listening to RAs on a normal campus already.
ReplyDeleteSelf governance is a great idea in theory, but there is no way a "Utopian" college campus could exist. Ever.
Self-governance on a small, "elite", private campus is a plausible idea. Students own up to their mistakes, talk through their problems with their peers, and solve their own problems. They are preparing for adulthood or "the real world"...but this is not how the real world works. There are people who take advantage of the system, such as the student who spilled their beverage and did not clean it up. The intention of self-governance is good but as the article said, would most likely not work on a scale much larger than the 1600 student population.
ReplyDeleteAnother thing to consider is that the students were "picked by admissions officials who consider their traits a match for self-governance -- informed, passionate, and active." Can they truly guarantee this?
As mentioned above, "self-gov" is a great theory, but not realistic.
I do not think that this one particular college is showing a realistic approach of how students would operate in a larger setting. For one, the campus is private and only 1600 students. Of course the students would know one another much better and have more opportunities to build a close-knit relationship in which working out problems would be an easier task than at a larger college. It is a great theory, but the actions of the students cannot be a source for opportunity of this self-governance in other colleges.
ReplyDelete