#462: Customers In The Classroom

How college has become transactional, plus how voting has become antagonistic

Happy Thursday, loyal readers. If this is your first issue of Article Club, welcome. I hope you like it here. And if this is your 462nd issue, I hope you’ll stay 462 more.

This week’s issue focuses on two topics — college and voting — and offers a pair of articles for each topic. Remember, I don’t purposely look for selections to juxtapose. But when the stars align, and my reading process points me in this direction, I like the result, because the pieces talk to one another and provoke deeper thought.

If the subject of college intrigues you, consider reading these articles:

• a look into how college has become transactional

• a critique of how well-intentioned efforts to accommodate students’ needs has become overwhelming

If the subject of voting intrigues you, consider reading these articles:

• a profile of three women in Georgia on all sides of the voting debate

• an analysis of the origin of voter suppression and minority rule

Hope you enjoy this week’s articles. As always, if a piece hits you, let me know. I’d love to hear from you. Or if you prefer, show your support by becoming a paid subscriber (like Kira!).

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1️⃣ Customers In The Classroom

Long ago, college was a place to explore your intellect, discover your passions, expand your horizons, meet new people, and learn for the sake of learning. The point was to make a better society and a better world. Not anymore.

Now college is a transaction. Colleges offer their customers diplomas and experiences to advance their life outcomes, in exchange for large amounts of money. Students choose wisely, pursuing coursework in fields more likely to promise financial freedom. There’s no room for liberal arts classes, no reason to get excited about learning. It’s all about the market.

This article makes plain that any romantic notion of college is only part of the brand. Those quaint photographs of scholars gathering in a circle on the lawn, participating in a seminar seeking truth, facilitated by an inspiring professor? Forget about it. It’s just a show. We’re talking about a capitalist endeavor, after all.

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By Beth McMurtrie • The Chronicle of Higher Education • 21 min • Gift Link

2️⃣ Are Universities Failing the Accommodations Test?

For the last seven years, Simon Lewsen has been teaching writing courses at the University of Toronto. He wants to do a good job, but he can’t wrap his mind around the reality that higher education has shifted significantly since he was a student. Back in the day, professors gave out assignments, and students did them. If a student didn’t take the final examination, too bad for them. It was a simpler time.

Now the expectations have shifted. Mr. Lewsen feels overwhelmed by his email inbox, filled to the brim with requests for accommodations. He has been asked to excuse absences, redesign assignments, provide written notes of missed lectures, accept alternatives to class participation, and of course, extend deadlines.

While Mr. Lewsen appreciates that all students should have access to his classroom, and while he values the guidelines of Universal Design for Learning, he just can’t keep up the pace. And he might not want to, given how little he’s getting paid.

By Simon Lewsen • The Walrus • 21 min • Gift Link

Evalena Bluey Bingo, who belongs to loyal reader Alison, enjoys sleeping on her back, smelling flowers, visiting national parks, and bringing joy, warmth, and cuteness to all beings. Want your pet to appear here? hltr.co/pets

3️⃣ 3 Georgia Women, Caught Up In Suspicion About Voting

Longtime subscribers know that I shy away from choosing articles about politics. My thinking is that you are already bombarded by them. But I simply can’t resist when a piece is exquisitely written, as is most everything by Eli Saslow.

In this article, Mr. Saslow does what he does best: take a heated and intractable issue (in this case, voting rights and election integrity), find real people who care deeply about the issue, and then tell their stories honestly and with empathy.

You’ll meet Helen Strahl, responsible for challenging more than 1,000 voters in Chatham County over the past year and a half. “I’m here to help,” she said. “I’m not here to destroy.” You’ll also meet Sabrina German, director of the Chatham County Board of Registrars. Her staff is responsible for processing Ms. Strahl’s challenges. “Good lord, can we ever catch a break?” she asked. Finally, you’ll meet Carry Smith, who has spent the last 20 years traveling around Georgia, helping register more than 15,000 voters. In this work, she never once thought her own eligibility to vote would be challenged. And she’s not happy when she finds out Ms. Strahl is the challenger.

By Eli Saslow • The New York Times • 12 min • Gift Link

✚ Not only is Mr. Saslow the recipient of two Pulitzer Prizes, he’s also a past participant at Article Club (and subscriber!). Listen to my interview with him about his outstanding piece, “An American Education.” It’s one of my favorites.

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4️⃣ Minority Rule Is Threatening American Democracy

Ari Berman: “The founders, despite the lofty ideals in the Declaration of Independence, designed the Constitution in part to check popular majorities and protect the interests of a propertied white upper class. The Senate was created to represent the country’s elite and boost small states while restraining the more democratic House of Representatives. The Electoral College prevented the direct election of the president and enhanced the power of small states and slave states. But as the United States has democratized in the centuries since, extending the vote and many other rights to formerly disenfranchised communities, the antidemocratic features built into the Constitution have become even more pronounced, to the point that they are threatening the survival of representative government in America.

“The timing of our modern retreat from democracy is no coincidence. The nation is now roughly 20 years away from a future in which white people will no longer be the majority. To entrench and hold on to power, a shrinking conservative white minority is ­relentlessly exploiting the undemocratic elements of America’s political institutions while doubling down on tactics such as voter suppression, election subversion, and the censoring of history. This reactionary movement — which is significantly overrepresented because of the structure of the Electoral College, Congress, and gerrymandered legislative districts — has retreated behind a fortress to stop what it views as the coming siege.”

By Ari Berman • Mother Jones • 18 min • Gift Link

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