Taking higher education more seriously

In no uncertain terms, the public university is the premier educational institution for higher learning in the United States. It has been given one of the most important jobs in society - educating each new generation. It's responsible for more than simply providing a practical education, it exists to inspire an awakening within each student that fuels a true desire for knowledge. It's a place that teaches profitable skills and intrapersonal intelligence that create respected members of society. It offers the hope that, through earning a degree, students can better their life and the legacy of their family.

That doesn't sound familiar? I'll stop glorifying the role of the modern university. Increasingly, universities have focused on promoting scholarship. That is, they cultivate individuals to perform specialized tasks and encourage them to pursue higher levels of education. The Renaissance man of long ago is just that, a mere phrase, a vestige of a truly intellectual era. It makes sense. Promoting scholarships increase the university's bottom line, and gives profit seeking young capitalist a chance to develop skills that will, hopefully, reward them in the market place. But what if there was more to modern education than learning how to fit into the market place? What about knowledge for its own sake? Not facts and information, but the realization of how little we can know and contemplating ourselves in that light.

Stories told of the coming demise. For years, blogs and other online opinion columns foretold of an age when ink and paper would go out of style. News, they said, could not wait for the printing press and media junkies were tired of contending with the family dog or rogue paperboy. Journalism, they predicted, would reach a turning point, a time when the delivery of news would forever change. Traditional news is clearly facing a hurdle along with students of many other disciplines. What would happen if the practical wisdom you had just spent years of your life learning didn't lead to the planned dream job after graduation? And time spent at late-night parties didn't produce the academic network you desired? Maybe we should take the job of higher education more seriously, as students and faculty. Can you say you finished college with a renewed appreciation for knowledge? Can you walk away with your head held high knowing that the intrinsic value of your knowledge gives you the inner confidence to succeed?

- Ron Boyle is a 2009 graduate, who received his bachelor's degree in journalism, with an emphasis in news-editorial. He also worked as a staff reporter for The Mirror's news section.