[lbo-talk] "The Chosen"

[Bitch]

At 08:50 AM 11/3/2005, Michael Hoover wrote:
> >>> info at pulpculture.org 11/03/05 8:37 AM >>>
>As the sociologist Jerome Karabel writes in "The Chosen" (Houghton
>Mifflin; $28), his remarkable history of the admissions process at
>Harvard, Yale, and Princeton, that meritocratic spirit soon led to a
>crisis.
><<<<<>>>>>
>
>for listers interested in *bottom* tier of higher ed, some years ago,
>karabel co-authored (with steven brint) _the diverted dream:
>community colleges and the promise of educational opportunity in
>america_...   michael hoover


And, it's an _excellent_ book. I've written about it here a few times 
already. It details how ordinary people were increasingly demanding 
_liberal arts_ educations. But, this scared the bejaysuz out of the elite 
who didn't want the barbarians at _their_ gate. They dreams were diverted 
into a vocationally oriented community or junior college system, with the 
backing of the top tiers -- Stanford, Harvard, Yale, etc (I know for sure 
Stanford was one). Kabel and Brint document this with the letters that 
circulated among university presidents who, IIRC, coated it all in cotton 
candy to make it appear that they were doing the "right thing" by workers.

It's one piece of the "anti-intellectualism" in 'merika puzzle. People once 
actually wanted to learn Shakespeare, etc. But elites were afraid that, 
were they to learn about this sort of thing, they'd never be satisified 
with their lot in life, etc. etc.

Anyway, maybe I'll blog about the book if I can dig out my old 
notes/papers/etc.


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