About 65 students, faculty and administrators held a spirited discussion about the intellectual atmosphere on campus during a forum Tuesday night.
Using damning statements from two University officials criticizing undergraduate education as a jumping off point, many in the crowd cited deficiencies in both the academic and residential systems.
The discussion was led by William Willimon, dean of the Chapel, and Reynolds Price, James B. Duke professor of English, who have both authored highly critical accounts of the intellectual experiences of students at the University.
Willimon released a report in April which berates the University for eschewing its responsibility for undergraduate social life.
During the annual Founder's Day address in December, Price advocated the elimination of the fraternity system and its replacement with residential colleges.
Although the specific proposals furthered during the meeting were important, most people in the crowd agreed that even the existence of a forum for discussing these issues was remarkable.
"This is the first time I've ever heard this many students talk this seriously," Price said.
The main problem is that many undergraduates have attitudes which are fundamentally anti-intellectual, said one student.
"It's a competition to do the most while seeming to do the least," said Trinity senior Bo King.
Too many undergraduates consider the University to be only a jumping off point for their professional careers, many of the people in attendance said, and do not make the effort to grow intellectually.
Price said that too many students plan their academic career around maximizing their grade point average, forcing professors to inflate grades in order to attract students to their classes. "If you grade every class fairly, you'll get about two students in your class next semester," he said.
Students at the University are so enveloped in their own lives that they lose much of the perspective of an education. They must interact more with faculty and their peers, many attending said.
"Make people eat together -- you get to face them," said one student, suggesting a call for a more structured life at the University.
Most of the students and faculty said they wanted a new residential and dining environment to create richer academic spheres inside and outside of the classroom.
"What I heard today is that people are calling for more structure [in their lives]," Sue Wasiolek, co-dean of student development, said in an interview.
Many were careful to fix the blame on faculty and administrators, not just students.
"Ultimately, the faculty really should take a lot of the blame, and students should be challenging the faculty the way some faculty are challenging their students," said Steve Nowicki, an assistant professor of zoology.
Some people suggested that the current residential system is the crux of the problem, and several possibilities were debated.
Price offered the first proposal, asking the audience if anyone would object to making all campus housing coed by next fall. Very few students objected.
Price also proposed a more gradual phaseout of fraternities on campus, while a student suggested a residential college system modeled on Yale University. At Yale and other schools with similar systems, Price pointed out, each dormitory has a dining hall and a greater sense of community.
Willimon also criticized The Chronicle for aiding in the degradation of the campus intellectual life.
"I don't think we're being served well by The Chronicle." The paper poorly represents the interests of people in the University community, and it rarely focuses on the intellectual and extracurricular activities of students, he said.
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