Does The University of Chicago Try to Catch Up on Economic Diversity? Let’s Hope So, But We Need to Watch.

David Leohardt’s article is here.

The University of Chicago Tries to Catch Up on Economic Diversity – NYTimes.com.

My comment was:

“It will be important to keep our eye on this program. Hopefully, it will be in the tradition of their ground-breaking and principled President Robert Maynard Hutchins (’29-’45).

Unfortunately, though, nowadays many universities take a call to improving almost anything as a call to improving only their marketing about how hard they are already improving that thing. It’s a lot cheaper than actually making the improvements.

Chicago almost succumbed to marketing to “consumers” in 1998, but powerful faculty members resisted – and the president was replaced. (See the story with links to NY Times articles at “”Content Deflation” Part II: University of Chicago Felt the Heat” on my blog inside-higher-ed.com )

Some schools actually publicize misleading data to market that they are improving access. (For an example, see “Washington U. in St. Louis Touts Their Reduction in Net Financial Aid” – also on my blog.)

I am hopeful about U. of Chicago. But as, someone once said, “Trust, but Verify”; well, ok, in today’s higher education climate, maybe we should change that to: verify.”