COLLEGIATE TIMES
My Soul Longs for Plato, Ritchie Valens
By U.S. Secretary of Education William J. Bennett
W hen I arrived at college as a
freshman some time ago, I had definite
ideas about how to use my four years of
higher education. 1 was resolved to
play a little football, and 1 wanted to
major in English in order to become
sophisticated, land a good job and make
big money.
But because of my college course
requirements, I found myself in an
introductory philosophy class,
confronted by Plato's Republic and a
remarkable professor who knew how tc
make the text come alive. Before we
knew it, my classmates and I were
ensnared by the power of a 2,000 year
old dialogue.
In our posture of youthful
cynicism and arrogance, we at first
resisted believing that the question of
justice should really occupy our ume.
But something important happened to
us that semester as we fought our way
through the Republic, arguing about
notions of right and wrong. Along the
way, our insides were shaken up a bit.
Without quite knowing it, we had
committed ourselves to the serious
enterprise of raising and wrestling with
great questions. And once caught up in
that enterprise, there was no turning
back. We had met up with a great text
and a great teacher; they had taken us,
and we were theirs.
Every student is entitled to that
kind of experience at college. Good
courses should shake you up a little,
expel stale opinions, quicken your
senses, and animate a conscious
examination of life's enduring
questions. Unfortunately, a growing
body of evidence indicates that this is
simply not taking place at enough of
our colleges. That fact is becoming
increasingly obvious.
Proof of this is the extraordinary
reception given to the University of
Chicago Professor Allan Bloom's new
book. The Closing of llie American
Mind. Although I must say that I
dissent from his views on rock n' roll,
this is a brilliant and challenging book.
It contains a devastating critique of,
and moving lament for, contemporary
American higher education. And for
most of the summer, it has been at the
top of the New York limes best seller
list.
Our Universities, Professor Bloom
asserts, arc too often hostile to serious
thought; no longer are they places
where the transmission, criticism, and
renewal of intellectual traditions arc
assured. "The University now offers no
distinctive visage to the young person,"
Bloom asserts, nor a set of competing
visions of what an educated human
being is.
If Professor Bloom is correct-and
there is every reason to believe dial he
is-then something has gone terribly
wrong on many American campuses.
Students arc not getting the
cducation-thc experiences, the
challenges, the true opening up to
man's achievement and life's
possibilities -that they deserve.
As a student, you can do
something about this. The first thing
you can do is get a copy of Allan
Bloom's book, and read it. Think about
what he has to say. Ask yourself some
hard questions about your college or
university. And ask those same hard
questions of your professors, faculty,
anil administrators.
If you're not satisfied with the
answers you get—if you're not satisfied
with the education your school is
providing -resolve to gel a good
education anyway. Fortunately, at least
a few good allies can be found on
almost every campus: good teachers,
serious friends, and gixid books. In
selecting courses, don't be afraid
intellectually to bite off more than you
can chew. Seek out the best teachers,
those who can stretch the limits of your
knowledge and bring life to the subject
at hand. Take advantage of those
teachers in class and after class.
In the end, regeneration of our
universities will come from within.
Only those within the academy can
rescue the academy. Students can play
a part. Students can demand that
colleges live up to the promises in their
glossy catalogues. This will benefit
you, and it will be a service to those
who follow in your path.
So read Bloom, think hard-but
also have fun this year. And in this
one respect, feel free to act contrary to
Bloom's advice: feel free to listen to a
few, or more than a few, rock n' roll
classics along the way. This summer,
as Allan Bloom's book was number one
on the best-seller lists, the Los Lobos
film soundtrack to La Bamba was
topping the Billboard charts. Take it
from a former rock band guitarist, from
a soul that will not cease longing to
hear Ritchie Valcns and Buddy Holly
just one more time, that rock n' roll and
a good education are not incompatible.^
Editor's Note: Collegiate limes
is a syndicated column published by a
the Collegiate Network, a league of
provocative campus publications
including Oregon Commentator.