The article discusses the inequitable allocation of education funding in America, highlighting a disproportionate focus on STEM fields at the expense of social citizenship education. It argues that universities face mounting pressures and must develop a new social contract with the public to ensure their relevance and survival. Drawing on personal experiences of bullying and reflection in childhood, the author emphasizes the importance of 'the life of the mind' for personal and societal growth, suggesting that universities must rethink their purposes amidst challenges to traditional institutions.
The life of the mind first found me in the third grade on a small elementary-school playground in suburban Southern California, thanks to the work of a schoolyard bully. My family had spent the previous year in France for my father's sabbatical; now, having returned to my former school, I sought to reestablish my relationship with my best friend.
This is not a challenge that can be met with purely defensive tactics. We must do what should have been done long ago: find our way to a new social contract between universities and the American people.
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