Celebrities in Higher Education

In May, economist Walter Williams gave the commencement address to six hundred some Grove City graduates. Their families and friends came with great expectations to hear a compelling charge and inspiring message. In 2011, Laura Bush, former first lady, came to speak. She has far more name recognition than Walter Williams. So the 2012 graduates were somewhat biased against Williams, on the grounds that he is not important enough.

On graduation day, many graduates were quite disappointed. The title of the talk is "Morality and Capitalism". They accused the speech of being a dense economics lecture. They wanted something relevant to their lives and applicable to the end of their time at Grove City. Students berated Williams merely because the speech had content. It seems they only wanted fluff and feel-good material.          Having read a transcript of the speech, I agree that it is packed with substance. It is an economics lesson, full of relevant examples and descriptive explanations. The address was not designed to be empowering or inspirational. Rather it was delivered as a lecture, to educate the students.

I am ashamed of the quality of the graduates, in their responses to the speech. They admitted to nodding off through the middle and being bored and uninterested. If they cannot give their attention for a single lecture, then I have little hope they earned an education at Grove City. If they are so unaccustomed to listening to lectures, then what have they learned in class? The skills of perusing Facebook without the professor noticing?

Secondly, these students have bought the party line, that education is entertainment. Neil Postman wrote Amusing Ourselves to Death, in which he demonstrates that the televization of education has robbed students of learning. They are accustomed to being entertained, even in the History Channel. History Channel editors know that they can quickly lose their viewers to more entertaining shows, so they make their "lessons" as dramatic and engaging as possible. Students now expect education to entertain. The idea of a dense or substantive lecture bores them. The thought of a speaker without fame and honor is abhorring.

I venture to guess that they would have preferred a celebrity to Walter Williams. A light, inspiring talk by a pop culture icon would be "more fun" than economics. And this, dear friends, is the sad state of education and society in the United States today.

To see the speech for yourself: http://www.gcc.edu/2012_Commencement_Address.php