GUEST COLUMN: An imperfect institution

This is not to say Penn is a mediocre school; quite the contrary, it deserves its reputation as the 11th best school in the country (according to U.S. News & World Report), offering many challenges and resources to the most demanding of students. But in its current state, it will be difficult for Penn to rise much higher than number 11, because Penn's societal structure suffers from a lack of finesse and sophistication. To begin with, although Penn is a fast-paced school with intelligent students, there seems to be an utter lack of intellectualism on campus. Students come to class with the intention of "collecting" knowledge and ideas, instead of thinking about why they are learning particular ideas, what logic lies behind them and how that logic may be questioned -- and if instead of learning these particular ideas, they could be learning others that are more relevant or practical or general. Also, since students do not freely offer ideas and opinions in the classroom, learning at Penn has become a static process, not a dynamic one like it should be. Professors come to class, teach a few generally accepted, non-controversial ideas, then leave. There is very little debate or in-class evolution of the pre-packaged ideas that teachers present to students. Professors try to buck this trend by making class participation a part of students' grades, but even this measure fails to generate much excitement. Students therefore take course after course thinking that ideas are set in stone and without understanding that, as thinking people, they can and should develop a core of personal opinions backed up by sound reasoning. In the meantime, professors who share a genuine interest in their courses feel frustrated when they try to inspire that same interest in their students. Learning here has become far too practical, and has even lost its meaning; it is now the annoying thing one must do to get a degree. Worse yet, there is an environment of peer pressure here that prevents students from openly expressing intellectual ideas. Imagination, creativity and wit -- these are met with nonchalance or even disapproval on the Penn campus. Thinking is standardized; it is risque to inform someone of new ideas or correct his or her logic. There is also a tremendous amount of cultural segregation on campus, which is extremely ironic considering the variety of ethnic groups and backgrounds represented within the student body. Cultural ideas are generally only discussed within specific groups, and infrequently shared with outsiders. The Asians associate with the Asians, the whites with the whites, the blacks with the blacks, and the homosexuals with the homosexuals, among others. It is extremely difficult for a student of one background to learn about the different conflicts experienced and perspectives held by students of other backgrounds. One reason for this is apathy: It often doesn't occur to students to learn about other backgrounds. Another is that some students are uneasy about interacting closely with people from different ethnic groups. In any case, this lack of cultural interaction is a dangerous trend in the globalizing world and is a failure of Penn's diversity efforts. Paralleling the lack of intellectualism on campus is the lack of social and political consciousness. Awareness and discussion of America's social and political issues occurs only in exclusive circles here, which is discouraging for anyone who believes that the 13,000-odd students at Ivy-caliber schools are the future leaders of society. Relatively few students here are aware of or can name Penn's student leaders. Their presence on campus is hardly felt -- and even if it were stronger, few students would pay much attention to them anyhow. The same goes for the administration, which can afford to maintain a low profile because the amount of interaction between students and administrators is minimal, limited to a handful of town meetings and meals. Clearly, something must be done to improve the sense of awareness and consciousness on the University's campus. A time traveler from the future should be able to return to the "Dark Ages" of the 20th century and find an inspiring amount of dynamism here. After all, the world is changing pretty fast and needs its protean minds, and the more inconceivably that Penn students can think, the better.