If A&M wants to improve rankings it must strengthen liberal arts

By: Tim Aylsworth

Posted: 4/21/05

Liberal arts play a vital role in the higher education system. All Ivy League universities have a strong foundation in liberal arts. The study of humanities played a great role in the earliest American institutions of higher education, such as Harvard and The College of William and Mary. Texas A&M President Robert M. Gates should take liberal arts into greater account with Vision 2020 if he really desires to make A&M a top-ranked University.

The attitude regarding higher education is one of immediate pragmatism. If a student wants to be an engineer, he studies engineering. If he wants to work in agriculture, he studies agriculture. Sociology and anthropology don't directly affect this student. There isn't anything fundamentally wrong with this idea; this type of study is an essential part of a successful society. Workers must be trained and knowledgeable in their fields. However, it should be noted that this is a complete departure from what is traditionally known as higher education.

This role in society was historically filled with systems such as apprenticeships. Trades were learned this way, and higher education usually dealt with the humanities. Society used to believe that an education in the humanities would lay an excellent foundation for any future positions. This attitude no longer holds true.

Woe to the student who goes home to tell his parents that he has made the change from nuclear engineering to liberal arts. After his parents' laughter subsides, he will likely take an enormous amount of flak. They will probably lecture him about his future. They will tell him that they don't want to pay for a worthless degree, and they will interrogate him about the possible job opportunities that a liberal arts degree entails.

John Newman claimed in his book "The Idea of a University" that a liberal arts degree opens the door to nearly any position. According to Newman, "General culture of mind is the best aid to professional and scientific study, and the man who has learned to think and to reason and to compare and to discriminate and to analyze will not indeed at once be a lawyer, or a statesman, or a physician, or a good landlord or a man of business - but he will be placed in that state of intellect in which he can take up any one of the sciences or callings."

This is the whole notion of studying humanities. While it does not give the specific technical knowledge required for certain positions, it teaches the student how to think critically and evaluate situations, how to learn independently, how to see a bigger picture and how to place value on various aspects of life.

A&M excels in engineering and agriculture. There shouldn't be an excessive compromise in such fields of study to create a better environment for the humanities. Many universities such as MIT have great technology studies and liberal arts. The problem is that liberal arts colleges do not bring in the same immediate revenue other studies might. It is much easier to obtain grants when a department such as engineering is pumping out patents. But this is a short-term concern. Money will make its way to A&M if it holds a place as a top-10 university, and it cannot do this without a strong foundation in the humanities.

A&M is at a specific disadvantage. Unlike many of the top universities in the nation, A&M started as a mechanical and agricultural land-grant college. When making the change to a university system in 1963, A&M had to play catch-up to bring departments such as liberal arts up to par. In its April 1997 edition, Texas Monthly points out, "The College of Liberal Arts has been A&M's biggest educational shortcoming over the years."

The argument is clear. The College of Liberal Arts is integral both historically and in the modern education system. It is the cornerstone of many top universities. It provides a gateway into other preparations for the workforce. George Will, a Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist, said, "The term 'liberal arts' connotes a certain elevation above utilitarian concerns. Yet liberal education is intensely useful. It is neither better nor worse than other studies. It is however a fundamental aspect of a certain type of life. It is the type of life that was originally pursued by academia."

The history of Texas A&M should not be ignored, and it should not abandon the studies that made it famous. A main pillar of Vision 2020 is finding a way to maintain what makes the school stand out, while destroying the barriers that keep it from being a top-10 school. This is exactly what needs to happen when considering the role liberal arts will play at this University.