Proposition for the Pro Bono University of the Twin Cities
In a world riddled with violence & divisiveness, it becomes difficult to remember things bringing out the best & brightest in ourselves & communities. Who remembers the Experimental College of the Twin Cities? Launched in the spring of 2006, a group of undergraduate students at Macalester College formed the experimental college out of protest over rising tuition costs. The argument supporting this quasi experiment in “free spirited academia” was supplanted on the premise that higher education is a human right to be made accessible to all regardless of color or demographic background. As of 2022, the experimental college has been largely disbanded as the movement behind it fizzled out after having failed to deliver on the high hopes & expectations of members & supporters alike. Perhaps the beginning of the end occurred the year of its founding when organizers behind the experimental college petitioned Macalester to grant the would-be institution full academic accreditation to offer credit-based courses?
It was ruled by a committee entrusted to maintain academic integrity of coursework that accreditation could not be granted without compromising standards in terms of quality of actual education received per would be student. What made the experimental college so revolutionary was anyone with a lesson plan & syllabus could become a “class facilitator” regardless of credentials, background, or demonstrable expertise. Technically, a student of constitutional law could teach their own class on the subject in hopes of learning as they go. Such a haphazard approach to higher education raises plenty of red flags, but is no less worthy of an experiment made in the name of education for all. It was believed coursework changed over time in terms of how any given subject matter is approached & subsequently taught year-to-year depending on developing trends shaping a specific field of study. This is all determined by a broader philosophy on education influencing how, what, & the way we learn things. For example, introducing 2+2=4 exemplifies a utilitarian approach to education; the hard facts, figures, & statistics of something must be supported by practical necessity.
If there is no practical necessity, minimal priority can be diverted to theory in terms of supporting conceptualisms disputing the “one dimensionality of educative discourse.” On the other hand, if 2 halves of 4 is introduced as something always equal to 4 holistically with no additional variable, practical necessity takes a backseat to creative conjecture suggesting theoreticism allows for greater novel discovery. At the experimental college, both philosophies could be taught alongside each other in separate classes by volunteer student instructors or simultaneously by a semiretired professor in a single class.
That was the beauty behind the experimental college, but in a world driven by practical necessity, the lack of accreditation reduced this much hoped for alternative in higher education to be little more beyond that of a student organization comprised of naive undergraduates on campuses of Macalester College & the University of Minnesota. The experimental college had the right idea, but failed to gain real world traction. The question is, can it be brought back? The experiment can be restored & continued, but perhaps as the “Pro Bono University of the Twin Cities” with a focus on demographically challenged communities of the inner city?
This cannot be achieved without official academic accreditation combined with the direct participation of academics, retired or practicing, from different colleges & universities throughout the Twin Cities. Coursework supporting degree programs would be offered at little to no cost to students with the goal of offering graduate programs up to the doctoral level. The university itself would function like an academic co-op of sorts owned by students, but administered by faculty through democratically elected committees.
Perhaps for the first time, students can own their own university while electing their own administrators, but as with anything, the realizability of such a university comes crashing down to the mighty dollar. Who will foot the bill? Is it not time for public school districts in struggling urban demographics to offer a solid grassroots pipeline to higher education where high school graduates & adult education seekers alike can have an opportunity for higher education leaving both with no excuse not to seek it out?
A “pro bono university” could ideally be financed by the Metropolitan Council, but it would be a university focused exclusively on academics, not the glitz & glamor of college sports & luxurious amenities designed for legacy students of white privilege.