Like plant stems eagerly soaking up water, we absorb their wisdom every day. Like young children to their mothers, we listen with rapt — or not so rapt — attention to the lectures that may determine our futures. Like online shoppers looking for the best bargains, we prowl rating websites for the brightest, the funniest, the most life-changing.
“They” are our professors — the reason we students come to this great University. Yet, focused on the classes they teach, we all too often forget they hold valuable opinions outside of those classes, opinions that could help students flesh out the content of The Cavalier Daily’s stories.
In a March 18 lead editorial, “The past isn’t dead,” The Cavalier Daily Managing Board writes, “Faculty are more intimately involved than any other group … at the University. The success of the institution’s mission depends on its faculty.” This article, recalling the events of last summer, deserves commendation; it points out the precariously ephemeral quality of news and the risk of dropping follow-through on major events months later. More significantly, it pinpoints the moral the Board of Visitors needs to learn, calling for a future where “faculty consultation in major decision-making is common practice.”
On this same article, History Prof. Robert Geraci comments online, “If the past isn’t dead … why haven’t you said a word about the information I revealed … back in November”? Though Geraci’s purpose is to accuse The Cavalier Daily of participating in the crime it reports, his comment has a tangential implication: reach out to our professors. “Faculty consultation,” The Cavalier Daily itself rightly argues, should be common practice.
Articles in this newspaper only occasionally incorporate quotes from faculty, yet there are many places where professor opinion would be a valuable addition — particularly where the story’s content directly relates to academia.
Survey, for example, recent lead editorials. “Words rarely spoken” (March 20) discusses a language-exchange partnership between the University and Duke. “On the razor’s edge” (March 20) analyzes the demographics of the audience at visiting University of Cambridge Prof. Stefan Collini’s lecture. “The politics of research” (March 21) reports on the Senate’s decision to reduce funding in political science.
These stories collectively paint a strong image of future implications in academia, forging links between the University and its broader community. While admirable in breadth of content, the articles exhibit an unsettling dearth of one important thing: quotes.
Let’s go through the above articles respectively.
In “Words rarely spoken,” The Cavalier Daily explicates wonderfully the importance of the issue, claiming, “Expanding the school’s language offerings would … entail hiring multiple faculty members. Such an effort may be cost-prohibitive, especially for more rare languages…” According to the article, however, “it is difficult to guess which languages might become crucial…” In this case, the University has chosen to extend to Duke its Tibetan classes in exchange for Duke’s Creole ones. Clearly, this is a novel partnership with strong implications for the faculty involved. Why not, then, ask them to weigh in? If it’s difficult to predict language use, what thought went into the decision to seek out Creole? The Managing Board also offers an opinion on the use of digital technology in the classroom. So, how do our Tibetan professors feel about such incorporation of video technology, particularly with regard to the nascent rise in online education?
We see similar opportunity in “On the razor’s edge.” Again, The Cavalier Daily makes a poignant point: “So it’s too bad that he [Stefan Collini] was … preaching to the choir: because while those in attendance … likely had heard similar arguments before, the students who remain outside such conversations would benefit more from an inspiring reflection on why they are at the University.” In this case, “those in attendance” are faculty. So, why not ask these professors to offer that new perspective students are missing? What can faculty members pull from Collini’s lecture that might help guide students toward that “inspiring reflection”? The Cavalier Daily has a chance to begin solving the very problem it identifies.
Finally, we turn to “The politics of research.” Government funding choices have a trickle-down effect. For a University largely judged on its own research output, and with a well-renowned politics department, it could be eye-opening to learn professor opinions on how changes in the government’s prioritization of research could, in parallel, affect their own academic work.
Our professors have more to offer than just facts from their personal fields. In addition, The Cavalier Daily is a University-wide newspaper, an outlet not solely for students, but also for the faculty whose involvement determines, as The Cavalier Daily put it, “the success of the institution’s mission.” Consider probing the professors for their thoughts more. We could well benefit from hearing their unique perspectives.
Ashley Stevenson is The Cavalier Daily’s public editor. Contact her at publiceditor@cavalierdaily.com.
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