<p>To those interested in what's going to happen under Zimmer, do go to the University of Chicago homepage and listen to Zimmer's press conference... in my opinion, things look good!</p>
<p>Thanks, felipecocco. It sound like the faculty and trustees are relatively close to being on the same page -which is very important to the health and well-being of a university.</p>
<p>Only if its headed in the right direction. Chicago is, at best, treading water, and at worst, declining a bit - so everybody being "on the same page" isn't necessarily a positive situation.</p>
<p>While continual examination is a good thing, there are certain values that those who love The University hold very dear. And, as long as these ideals are upheld, all will be well.</p>
<p>Donald Livine writing about the "Ideal of the University" presents a cogent argument for the importance to American higher education of U of C values. He begins with some telling quotes:</p>
<p>While the public has been napping, the American university has been busily reinventing itself. In barely a generation, the familiar ethic of scholarship-baldly put, that the central mission of universities is to advance and transmit knowledge-has been largely ousted by the just-in-time, immediate-gratification values of the marketplace. . . . Gone . . . is any commitment to maintaining a community of scholars, an intellectual city on a hill free to engage critically with the conventional wisdom of the day. (Kirp 2000)</p>
<p>...Shils argued,</p>
<p>in recent decades, the sure moral touch has weakened and the self-confidence of the academic profession in its devotion to its calling has faltered. . . . The academic profession has done very little to promulgate a set of guiding principles which should govern its custodianship of knowledge in teaching and research, its role in the internal conduct of universities and its participation in the public sphere. (Shils 1997, 7)</p>
<p>Levine then states: The threats identified by Shils have not diminished. They have been augmented by challenges stemming from the knowledge revolution of recent years, challenges so novel he could not have anticipated them a decade ago. If we follow Shils's advice to alert universities to save their souls, then they must have some idea of what soul it is they ought to be saving. They must articulate afresh what it is that constitutes The Idea of the University.</p>
<p>The Idea of the University? Ask that question around here and people will assume you mean The University, i.e., Chicago. Call it obnoxious, call it lovable-this parochial arrogance affects all who have sojourned hereabouts for any length of time. Please note: in taking pride about "the University," faculty and students are thereby owning it-in marked contrast to many institutions where "the university" connotes a distant administrative entity with interests alien to those of the working faculty and students. What is more, the attitude reflects more than local hubris: it gets reinforced by those all over the country, indeed, the world, who look to us as a beacon--by those who say, in words I have heard many times from colleagues elsewhere: "Hold the course; The University of Chicago is the only real university we have left."</p>
<p><a href="http://iotu.uchicago.edu/levine.html%5B/url%5D">http://iotu.uchicago.edu/levine.html</a></p>
<p>Interestingly, Robert Pippen, the faculty representative on the search committee that spoke at the Zimmer news conference, exclaimed how surprised he was to hear this [same] refrain time and time again as the search committee visited campuses throughout the nation. </p>
<p>"As we traveled... we would ask for what the view form the outside was of The University, and we would hear... The University is the purist of universities, dedicated to research, creation of new knowledge, and education more than any other, that it is a kind of intellectual hothouse, that the value of ideas and the life of the mind mean more here than anywhere else. We heard this so often that I was tempted to ask, 'So what is you do?'"</p>
<p>That kind of sums it up nicely. Chicago needs to keep doing what it is doing, for there may be no one left to do it if it does not.</p>
<p>Romantic self-delusion, with all due respect.</p>
<p>Thanks, idad. As Robert Pippin wrote in reply to my e-mail, 'he is one of us.'</p>
<p>byerly, dont put down the university. We've seen enuff</p>
<p>i second that.</p>
<p>Its a great university, but alumni nostalgia and faculty resistance to change are hindering needed reforms.</p>
<p>Byerly,</p>
<p>Why don't you go hang out at another college's thread? What makes you the expert on U of C?</p>
<p>No patsfan, let her be....</p>
<p>After all, her treasured University, Harvard, is certainly a model for institutions open for reform, especially after forcing out one of the greatest reformers it had ever seen...</p>
<p>Couldn't have said it better felipeocco! Especially regarding "faculty resistance to change" LOL. Go try and influence your own alma mater Byerly if you know so much. I 'm sure they would be more interested in hearing from you.</p>
<p>I have been quite critical of the Harvard FAS tenure-protectors in many, many threads. Harvard is in need of structural reform, as are most elites - including Chicago.</p>
<p>And I'm sure they would know where to find you if they wanted to. Now why don't you run along until your opinion is asked for.</p>
<p>Please stop that stuff. </p>
<p>Focus on the issues, and express your views to your heart's content, but avoid remarks of that sort, "menloparkmom".</p>
<p>"Focus on the issues, and express your views to your heart's content, but avoid remarks of that sort, "menloparkmom"."</p>
<p>I agree with you, her remarks were unreasonable.</p>
<p>That being said, you've written five posts on this thread, and have yet to present a single argument. You have, however, made plenty of vague accusations that were ponderous at best.</p>
<p>menloparkmom</p>
<p>I agree with you, your remarks were not unreasonable. I'm tired of these Harvard "know it alls" knocking this school.</p>
<p>It is not "knocking" the school to suggest that it should take steps to matriculate a higher fraction of those it admits, and to reduce the fraction of the student body for which Chicago was a second or third choice. </p>
<p>A great school would be even greater if it could attract a greater fraction of the top students it admits.</p>
<p>"A great school would be even greater if it could attract a greater fraction of the top students it admits."</p>
<p>Who are you to pass judgement on the quality of student at Chicago? Why do you care who attends Chicago?</p>
<p>I stand by my statement.</p>
<p>As a matter of fact, I don't know why anyone on this site including myself is even patronizing you.</p>
<p>Byerly</p>
<p>By top students, are you including yourself?</p>