Let us play a game. I want you to name the first notion that pops into your head after imagining Obama’s popular "hope" poster enveloped by fire. Words like "frustration" or "aversion" or simply "heat," seem logical responses. If you said "lynching," then congratulations! You and Meredith Curtis '10 share similarly shallow, liberal thought processes.
Imagine if you had to give 100 dollars (or whatever the average cost of a lecture is) to a clerk at a register in front of the classroom, or give the security guard a twenty before entering the Science Library instead of swiping your card. Seems ridiculous, right? However, it is indisputable that this would fundamentally change the way in which people relate to their studies, because it makes price more of an aspect of one’s day to day experience. A liberal arts education isn’t about maximizing the monetary return on our investment. It is about cultivating and broadening our intellectual faculties, not our eye for bargains.
Brown is the bubble on College Hill, a sanctuary from the harsh realities of the world. But this supportive and welcoming veneer can often obscure us from the true purpose of college: Brown is one big testing ground.
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