On the topic of education, I attended an Ivy League graduation this past weekend. I’m just a simple yokel from the Midwest and had only been on one other Ivy League campus before so I’m embarrassed to admit that going in, I was actually a little excited. If only for the mystique and history oozing from these institutions.
In the days I spent there walking around the beautiful campus, interacting with the graduate’s friends, hearing from the faculty at both the university wide and smaller school graduation, I couldn’t get this one descriptor to stop running through my mind……. “pampered mediocrity”.
If these kids are the future of America, we are truly and genuinely f*cked. The average Kelley would run circles around these people.
After what seemed like a two hour long honorary degree, self congratulatory, circle jerk, the commencement address began. It was to be given by Ken Burns, a once great documentarian.
Burns proceeded to tell the audience that history is not fixed, it is not to be accepted as settled events in our past to draw lasting lessons from.
Instead it is incumbent upon each generation to analyze history through their respective lense and draw their own conclusions based on the standards we now hold today. Burns could not, and would not, extoll any of the virtues of the University founder, Benjamin Franklin, without subsequently qualifying it by mentioning one of his vices.
These universities, their students and alumni once represented the pinnacle of our countries meritocracy, not any longer…