The following excerpts 
     
     from John C. Sawhill's 
     
     essay, “The Unlettered 
     
     University” first appeared 
     
     in the February '79 ' 
     
     issue of Harper's 
     
     Magazine. Sawhill has 
     
     served in the office of- 
     
     Management and Budget, 
     
     and the Federal Energy 
     
     Administration‘of the 
     
     United States. He is 
     
     currently president of 
     
     New York University and 
     
     was a guest this"summer of 
     
     Jimmy Carter's at Camp 
     
     David. For me, Sawhill 
     
     has indeed brought the 
     
     issue of “the university” 
     
     into perspective. A , 
     
     perspective that can in 
     
     fact be applied to the 
     
     situation here at UPEi. 
     
     Perhaps we, as a university 
     
     community, should examine 
     
     ourselves in the face of 
     
     Sawhill's arguments. What 
     
     do you think? “ 
     
    

    
     Mark Iedwell 
     
    
   
   
    
     I had just finished ' 
     
     teaching my mdergraduate 
     
     seminar on'ethicar 
     
     perspectives on energy 
     
    
   
   
    
     policy at NYU when a bright ‘ 
     
    
   
   
    
     young woman walked up to 
     
     discuss a philosophical 
     
     questim that troubled her. 
     
     Impressed by her lmcw- 
     
     ledge of moral and social 
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
        
     
    
   
   
    
        
     
       
     
       
     
       
     
    
   
   
    
     THE ISLAND. 
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
     m Wit/(ER muome 
     
    
   
   
    
     75 QUEEN ST. 
     
    
   
   
    
     OPEN DAILY EXCEPT SUNDAY 10:00 a.m. - 6:30 p,m. 
     
     FRIDAY 10:00 a.m. — 9:00 p.m. 
     
    
   
   
    
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     CHINATOWN ' 
     
    
   
   
    
     ‘ *WICICER FURNITURE, BASKETS, BLINDS AND DRAPES, 
     
     NOVA SCOTIA PINE FURNITURE, ‘TINWARES, GLASS— 
     
     WARE GIFT ITEMS, AND THE ONLY HEAD SHOP FOR 
     
    
   
   
    
     TEN * PERCENT STUDENT DISCOUNT V 
     
    
   
   
    
     x 
     
    
   
   
    
      9 my 
     
    
   
   
    
     philosophy, I asked her 
     
    
   
   
    
     why she was majoring in 
     
     business rather than in 
     
     one of the humanities. 
     
    

    
     She replied, "How else can 
     
     I get a job?" 
     
    

    
     This student'svambition 
     
     reflects what has gone 
     
     wrong in higher educatim 
     
     today. (hoe ocnsidered an 
     
    
   
   
    
     "essential enterprise for 
     
    
   
   
    
     the improvement of American 
     
     society, higher education 
     
    
   
   
    
     ‘ has become the handmaiden 
     
    
   
   
    
     of successful career 
     
     planning, spurning both 
     
    
   
   
    
      heading and the 
     
    
   
   
    
     rigorous pursuit of 
     
     kncwledge. NQN that higher 
     
    
   
   
    
     education is viewed largely 
     
    
   
   
    
     as a passport to the job 
     
     market, can we again create 
     
     an institution and a 
     
     curriculum that recognize 
     
     the value of learning for 
     
    
   
   
    
     p its own sake? 
     
    
   
   
    
     All that we know about ’ 
     
     ourselves and our world is 
     
     codified in a body of 
     
     learning (liberal arts) 
     
     that illuminates our own 
     
     struggles and those of our 
     
     ancestor§, so that each 
     
     succeeding generation 
     
     profits in some measure - 
     
     from the experience and 
     
     vision of the past. ..The 
     
     liberal arts enable each 
     
     individual to makeuwhat 
     
    
   
   
    
     / 
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
     Mm—wfihlw-MWW 
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
     1 
     
    
   
   
    
     The UPEI Sun, Thursday,-Sept. 20, 1979! Page 7 
     
    
   
   
    
     ‘ WPle 
     
    
   
   
    
     W.E.B. DuBois described 
     
     as "that fine adjustment 
     
     Whid'l forms the secret ' 
     
     civilization." 
     
    

    
     Liberal education 
     
     implies as much an I, _.c_ 
     
     attitude \tcward learning 
     
     as a specific course of 
     
     study. . .its importance 
     
     extends far beyond the 
     
     fonnal disciplines that 
     
     compose its'syllabus. 
     
     ...Lately, liberal 
     
     educatim has fallen - or 
     
     perhaps it has been 
     
     pushed - into disrepute. 
     
    

    
     Undergraduate instructors 
     
     are distracted from 
     
     teaching by the demands of 
     
     research and publication 
     
     necessary for professional 
     
     advancement and tenure. . . 
     
     America's corporate commun— 
     
     ity also nurturedrinstitut- 
     
     ions of higher learning as 
     
     resources for private 
     
     enterprise. Business and 
     
     industry are the nation's 
     
     largest employers; their 
     
     needs for persohnel — 
     
     supported by their wealth 
     
     and implemented by their 
     
     seasonal visits of 
     
     recruiters on campus — 
     
     encourage students to 
     
     sacrifice broad courses of 
     
     study in a variety of 
     
     disciplines to the narrow 
     
     pursuits that guarantee 
     
    
   
   
    
     ISLAND 'S 
     
    
   
   
    
     '_l0unAt5 
     
     slusur ' 
     
    
   
   
    
     them employment upon 
     
     graduation. . .The disposit— 
     
     ion of the students 
     
     themselves has further 
     
     damaged the state of the 
     
     liberal arts. 
     
    

    
     Perhaps the most 
     
     persuasive argument for the 
     
     re-emergenoe of liberal 
     
     education in inStitutions 
     
     of higher learning is the 
     
     fact that such studies 
     
    
   
   
    
     I inform human nature, and 
     
    
   
   
    
     are as much a part of us 
     
     as our physical needs. 
     
     'Ihey allow us to grow 
     
     emotionally and intellect— 
     
     ually. 
     
    
   
   
    
     . . .Limited, career 
     
     directed studies alone 
     
     provide no lasting 
     
     solutions to the multitude 
     
     of difficult and potent— 
     
     ially dangerous problems 
     
     we confront. The univers- 
     
     ities must reassort the 
     
     balance between the 
     
     transient interests of a 
     
     particularsociety and 
     
     the enduring truths of a 
     
     civilization. Universities 
     
     must cease doing the work 
     
     of government and industry 
     
     and reclaim their position 
     
     as the. agency that instructs 
     
     and enlightens these 
     
     instituions in hm best to 
     
     function for the benefit 
     
    
   
   
    
     ‘ of all. 
     
    
   
   
    
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