James B. Twitchell Quotes
Before all else, the modern university is a business selling a product.
James B. Twitchell, Social Historian & Educator, 2004
Sourced by: Eigen's Political and Historical Quotations
In 1771 the Brown University Corporation started construction on a new university building in Providence, Rhode Island. Many were distressed with the seeming waste of resources.
What is interesting about this advertisement is the last line advertising that the school was coeducational. Earlham was not the first college in America to admit females—Obelin College did in 1833. However, when schools accepted females there was usually controversy and they did not advertise the fact. But here Earlham’s advertisement tells us a few things about the culture. There must have been many young women who wanted to attend college, otherwise there would not have been any point in advertising for them. In addition, although coeducation at the college level was an uncommon notion, it was probably not offensive to most people in the area lest the ads would not have been publicly run.
Madison had proposed such a university in 1810. Again, the Congress paid no heed to the President’s call for a university in Washington D.C. The United States was one of the few significant countries then that did not have a university in its Capitol.
In many eras in many countries, there have been major complaints about the quality of the pre-college education. This statement is typical of many made in 2010 America about the public schools. The term “public schools” in Engand refers to what we call private schools. In 1830, there were few pubic schools in the American sense of free, government operated schools.
Historically, universities set their procedures and standards and students had to meet them or go elsewhere. However, there began to be serious competition among schools, and many started altering their programs to better serve the preferences of the students—their customers.
Rhode Island was known for its religious tolerance since the founders left Massachusetts after being persecuted by the Puritans. However, this was a remarkable policy for its time. Brown was a Baptist school and the President was a Baptist Minister, yet other Protestant denominations, Catholics, Jews were all welcome to attend. The toleration however did not extend to atheists. See {82626} .
Von Mises was one of the few right wing conservatives who would admit that private business could not operate government functions well. It was the very nature of government service and operation which makes its operation inimical to profit making business practices and methods.
At the time a department store was considered a large but mediocre retail establishment with a tendency to try and sell everything rather than specialize in one or two areas like the finest shops. Flexner observed that the American universities were then very broad but we’re not centers of intellectual excellence. The result was that he established the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton. See {634254}.
The Knight Commission, is a panel of members of the American academic, athletic and journalism communities, with an eye toward reform of college athletics, particularly in regard to emphasizing academic values and policies that ensure athletic programs operate within the educational missions of their universities. Vaccaro, represented Nike and other sports-related companies and made deals to have a school’s teams wear the company logo on Other uniforms, use the companies athletic shoes, and other equipment. He was one of the most successful in the business having brokered the Nike shoe deal with Michael Jordan. He was also terribly candid as this quotation demonstrates.
Hypertrophy means: exaggerated or unnecessary growth or complexity
This historical quotation was typical of the few colleges in America at the end of the18th century. Note that the school was open to anyone who would pay the tuition. Also that 14 years after the America Revolution and independence, English money was the currency for most transactions in the early United States.
James B. Twitchell is an author and former professor of English. He was born in 1943, in Burlington, Vermont. His undergraduate, Masters and PhD were all from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1962, 1966 and 1969.
