While many students and faculty are in a constant state of distress due to the latest John Silber atrocity, I think that he is just the thing Boston University needs. Presidents at most major universities are simply elevated fundraisers, chosen for their timidity and ability to avoid controversy. There is nothing the faculty and the student body love more than a push-over. If, however, there is no institutional counter-weight to offset the faculty’s natural tendency toward sloth and the student body’s natural tendency toward decadence, then the university quickly becomes a joke.
In our society, universities create a thinking citizenry, which exerts a disproportionate influence on our national economy, policy and character. A university, therefore, must insist on creating hard-working, moral and intelligent citizens. Grade inflation and corresponding faculty laziness pull in the opposite direction.
Now let’s be honest, is the College of Arts and Sciences at BU insisting on the highest standards of excellence from its faculty and students? I graduated from CAS in 2000 with a double major in history and philosophy. In my junior year, I had four days of classes per week, and in my senior year I had three. With often less than 12 hours per week of classroom instruction, and often less time needed to finish assignments, I was able to spend considerable amounts of time drinking and sleeping (every moment of which I enjoyed immensely).
Admit it, few of us (at least in CAS) work very hard. For our efforts, professors dole out A’s like candy. If I received a B on a paper in certain classes, it was because I put more effort into tying my shoes. This is certainly not true in every class, or even the majority of classes, but everyone takes a healthy number of no-brainers. Now that I am a BU law student, I realize the extent to which my undergraduate career was a breeze. I was rarely expected to think and write at a challenging level of precision and care prior to law school. With little to no feedback and predictable grades, I often felt as though the professors were not even reading my work.
Of course, I had many inspiring and demanding professors. The Core Curriculum was and still is an awesome program, and I will always remember professors Garrett, Wylie and Boots for their rigor and high expectations. Silber should hold the rest of the university to their standards. Overall, I am convinced that there is more good than bad at BU, but that does not preclude a thorough spring cleaning. All of Silber’s many critics should take the opportunity for honest reflection and ask, “Is BU training decent American citizens, or is it becoming just another expensive four-year playground?” Whatever else one may think of John Silber, his Boston University will continue to insist on old-fashioned hard work and intellectual rigor.