What a former college president would have said

Via Lifehacker, I read a piece in the New York Times by William Chase, former president of Emory and Weslyan Universities, which details some of the advice he would have given students while he was president, but couldn't. While it doesn't offer any new insights, it's still worth a read, particularly if you are interested in the rapid changes within higher education in recent years.

"Laudable could be cheaper, but you wouldn’t like it. You and your parents have made it clear that you want the best. That means more spacious and comfortable student residences (“dormitories,” we used to call them), gyms with professional exercise equipment, better food of all kinds, more counselors to attend to your growing emotional needs, more high-tech classrooms and campuses that are spectacularly handsome.

Our competitors provide such things, so we do too. We compete for everything: faculty, students, research dollars and prestige. The more you want us to give to you, the more we will be asking you to give to us. We aim to please, and that will cost you. It’s been a long time since scholarship and teaching were carried on in monastic surroundings."