UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO ALUMNI GROUP TO OPPOSE MISGUIDED MARKETING STRATEGY; WEBSITE TO DRIVE WORLDWIDE INFORMATION/ADVOCACY CAMPAIGN

CHICAGO -- Deeply troubled that an undergraduate enrollment plan could jeopardize the special identity and reputation of the University of Chicago, a group of University alumni today launched an information/advocacy organization, Concerned Friends of the University of Chicago, at a news conference at the Union League Club.

They plan to mount a drive to preserve the pioneering liberal education model instituted in 1937 by the visionary Robert M. Hutchins. Their campaign will also champion other key elements of the U. of C.'s distinct character: no further cuts in the Common Core curriculum, small discussion classes taught by renowned researchers rather than anonymous lecture courses taught by junior faculty, and recommitment to Chicago's historic emphasis on graduate and professional training.

Concerned Friends believes that the University's alumni have a vital and yet untapped role to play in this crucial debate. The lack of any meaningful communication to date either about the plan or its academic rationale is deeply disturbing.

Robert L. Stone, alumnus of the Law School with a doctorate in Political Science, and a member of the Center,* is spearheading the campaign. He claims the reason he has taken on this challenge is to "make pubic what has been an insular, internal debate for the past 3 years. President Sonnenschein seems intent on pursuing a policy that will prove disastrous in terms of educational excellence."

The Administration's plan to add 1,000 undergraduate -- a 27% increase -- by 2007 would make the College the University's primary academic unit, a reversal of the University's founding focus. This will have harmful effects in the graduate departments in reduced funding and academic influence. A reduction in the number of graduate scholarships for next year in several departments has already been reported.

Stone pointed out that a prestigious faculty committee spent a year studying the enrollment question and concluded that 1,000 new undergraduates would generate only a negligible rise in net tuition revenues over the first 10 years of the plan.

While the university administration has attempted to mask this profound change by saying its goal is merely making undergraduate life more "fun", the envisioned marketing makeover is seriously flawed for many educational and economic reasons that have gone unreported in press accounts to date.

The pursuit of fun will reap many grim consequences: dramatically increased class sizes (the university has not stated any plans for commensurate faculty hiring); undergraduates admitted who are unable to meet Chicago's rigorous standards, leading to a downward slide that will result in less than first-rank students being taught by less than first rank faculty; a drop in national rankings among peer institutions.

Concerned Friends intends to mobilize alumni participation through direct mail appeals to distinguished alumni "opinion leaders" nationally in business, the arts and sciences; presentations at university alumni clubs across the nation, appearances in print and electronic forums, and an online newsletter entitled Core Concerns.

The main communications tool will be a dedicated website on which the group can update developments and organize the University's living alumni. You can connect with Concerned Friends via

"Alumni may be able to point a way out of this educational dilemma," Stone thinks. "We intend today to take our part in protecting an institution and traditions that we cherish. We will not allow shortsighted economic arguments compromise our unique intellectual identity and rob students of future generations of a special educational experience."

* Robert Stone has employed Andrew Chrucky, Senior Fellow of the Center, as a special assistant.

WE NEED YOUR HELP!
And send in your comments.

We reserve the right to edit all submissions for relevancy and concision and to publish them at our discretion.

The Great Ideas Online is published free of charge to its members by the Center.

Top

Index to The Great Ideas Online

Home page Center for the Study of The Great Ideas