EDITORIAL: True Intellectualism

The University shouldThe University shouldrethink its plan toThe University shouldrethink its plan toimplement a college house system.The University shouldrethink its plan toimplement a college house system.__________________________________ As part of the new system, residences will be broken down by academic fields -- the pilot houses, called "virtual colleges" would group students according to their interest in community service, science and technology or research. But if campus living is divided according to fields of study, then the goal of One University will never be achieved. Those who study biochemistry will only know the biochemists, the political scientists will only know the political scientists, and so on. Will this expand the undergraduate experience -- or limit it? Because college houses are limited in scope, they deny students the opportunity to experience ideas and opinions to which they may not have formerly been exposed. To refuse students this opportunity is to suspend their ability to find out who they really are and where their true interests lie. Only through the courage to risk trying something new can students learn the most about themselves. The intellectualism that the administration is so desperately trying to instill in its undergraduates survives only when students develop a deep love of learning, regardless of the subject. Clearly, college house systems stress just the opposite -- study one subject with the same students throughout college. Is this the goal of blending academia with the residences? The new system also leaves other questions unanswered. Does the administration expect a freshman to decide his field of study prior to arriving in West Philadelphia? Well, if that freshman expects to live in a college house, then he had better be prepared. And, what if a student decides to major in chemistry, moves into the science and technology virtual college, and then changes his major to history? Would that student be forced to move? Virtual colleges have been implemented at University of California-San Diego, Provost Stanley Chodorow's former school. He has imported this idea from the West Coast in hopes of developing a more intellectual environment at the University. His goal is admirable, but his means are inappropriate. Students do not need academia forced upon them by an administrative structure. Instead, students must be given every opportunity to choose intellectual paths by themselves. Only then, when students develop a thirst for knowledge independently, will the pursuit of truth and ideas become profoundly meaningful. We urge the administration to reconsider its "virtual college" plan, and work to provide even more opportunities for faculty-student interaction and undergraduate research projects, so that students will learn to value intellectualism on their own.