Is academia finally keeping up with today’s society?

I have expressed in numerous posts my disdain for the higher educational system. Among many things, I don’t think it understands and blends with reality. It doesn’t ready the majority of its students for their actual careers. And above all else, it only rewards those who succeed with flying colors in the classroom. But things may be slowly changing, and as an opponent of universities, I must acknowledge their failures and successes.

My first glimpse of hope came with the arrival of Ohio State’s new president, Gordon Gee. President Gee is a man committed to the students, the faculty and the prestige of the university first, and his own reputation second. You can frequently find President Gee walking along side students on their way to class, engaging those standing in line for lunch, and famously teaching the Ohio State population how to tie a bow-tie. Last month President Gee could even be found challenging students to a game of Wii Bowling at the student recreation center.

Outside of his desire to interact with students, Gee is emulating the success of forward thinking companies by inviting his staff to town hall meetings where everything is on the table, continually challenging the status quo, and demanding innovation from within. With dozens of independent schools and colleges comprising the makeup of the university, Gee is expecting inter-disciplinary engagement to develop ideas, technologies, and advancement in areas we don’t even know exist yet.

My second reason for optimism that universities might slowly be catching on comes from the start of another blog, LifeBeforeNoon. The founders of this site are all seniors in communications at James Madison University, and started the blog due to the lengthy discussions in their communication classes about the world of blogging.

Carla Blumenthal, one of the co-founders said, “It started as a recommendation of our professor to develop skills in writing, new social media, and networking…it blurs the line between personal and career development…but also helps develop skills that are so essential in the job market now.”

These two examples completely rebut two of my main critiques of universities. For one, outside of the sciences, professors struggle to inject new and exciting technologies into the discussion as a means of progression of ideas and advancement of their student’s budding careers, if not their entire professional field. And two, that universities are completely out of touch with their student bodies.

It goes without saying that my disdain for higher education still exists, but these two cases are a small sample of great things that are happening at campuses across the country. They provide hope that our education system will again assert its dominance, and allow our country to prosper with knowledge, innovation, and a belief that together, we can begin to tackle impossible dreams.