Tuesday, September 16, 2014

And On the (Painfully) Thoughtful Side . . .





(A Serious Addendum to Alma Merit: Meritocracy and Universities) 


by Dr. Ellen Brandt


With the publication of On the Lighter Side . . . , a humorous addendum to Alma Merit: Meritocracy and Universities, we hope we've shown we can laugh at ourselves and that we wish the Bring Back the Meritocracy! project to proceed in a cooperative, collaborative, and inclusive fashion, shunning rhetoric for rhetoric's sake or the sowing of discord, when there badly needs to be a new consensus and a unified vision for our collective alma maters.

One part of this new vision should be recognizing, rather than denying, that a very large group of "Best and Brightest" alumni, generally through no real fault of their own, may now be teetering on the brink of extreme financial distress.

This is especially true of "Best and Brightest" alums over age 50, many with multiple degrees and distinguished careers behind - and potentially in front of - them.

These alums, particularly those who are part of the Baby Boomer generation, only in our 50s and 60s and numbering over one billion individuals worldwide, have borne the brunt of every serious economic dislocation of the past 20 or 30 years: outsourcing, downsizing, managerial shrinkage, housing crises, market crashes, and the hollowing out of both manufacturing and Main Street small business.

One can, of course, add extreme and unjustified bias to the mix, since this country has lately witnessed a  highly organized campaign of anti-Baby Boomer rhetoric - closely akin to propaganda used to disparage the dreams and the progress of other groups in the not-very-distant past: religious minorities, racial and ethnic groups, and, of course, women, despite their being a clear majority of U.S. citizens. (For my latest discussion on the ongoing propaganda campaign against Boomers, see Anti-Boomer Rhetoric: Time to Can (If Not Ban) It, Once and For All)

This is a topic we'll discuss further in upcoming articles on Meritocracy and Political Centrism and Meritocracy and the Baby Boomers.

In this brief piece, however, we'd like to get the ball rolling by talking about some of the things the Ivies and other top-tier universities can and should do right now to help their own At-Risk Graduates and Alums.

We believe strong action is required immediately, before what is now a problem escalates into a crisis and disaster, not only for those individuals directly involved, but for top-tier schools themselves and their continued position of respect and utility in our country and our world.

Here, then, is my personal take on some of the things the Ivies and other top-tier universities need to do as quickly as possible:


*** It Has to Start with Research: As we all know, action within the world of academia needs to be backed up by cold, hard research.

So let's do some! In fact, a lot. Let's shine the coldest and hardest and most far-reaching light possible on the problem, discovering just how many top-tier university and professional school alums are at the point of struggling - many unsuccessfully - to survive, let alone thrive, in this Brave New World dominated by the Dark Pools of Capital and their harsh agendas.

Let's focus on alumni of all generations. But let's especially look at top-school alums over age 50, researching who they are, where they are, why they're struggling, and what kinds of help they believe they need.

Perhaps we should establish an all-Ivy center of research examining At-Risk Graduates and Alums. Or perhaps individual schools should set up their own research centers or projects. Perhaps there should be nationwide or worldwide projects focused on the "Highly-Educated But Under-Employed." And perhaps major foundations and think tanks or international agencies, governmental and NGO alike, should be doing this kind of research.

There are many possibilities, and we need to start exploring them.


*** Open on-campus centers for At-Risk Graduates and Alums:  I'd like to see every top-tier university in the U.S. and the rest of the developed world open its own office or center on campus, whose target population is financially-struggling graduates and alumni of all generations, with a special focus on over-50 alums.

Make these centers welcoming and non-judgmental places, where At-Risk Graduates and Alums can discuss their situations, connect again with their university communities, and be recognized and validated once more for what they truly are: well-educated, intelligent, talented, and creative individuals who have lost their way in a purely financial sense, often because of economic trends and forces which in no way should impact their ability to rebound and resume productive and successful lives.


*** Publicize what we do:  The Ivies and other top-tier universities should embrace these efforts proudly, showing that as in other areas of research and action, they are being proactive and on-the-offense, not reactive and on-the-defense.

As on-campus centers and comprehensive research projects are initiated, make sure the entire university community - and the world-at-large - knows about them. Write and talk about them in university publications and other channels of communication. Get the story out to media outlets in the U.S. and abroad. Influence both major parties and local, state, and federal governments to approve of, embrace, and possibly participate in these efforts.


*** Get immediate, concrete help to At-Risk Graduates and Alums on the edge of disaster: Here's something the cadre of Mega-Donor financiers can do for their very own intellectual peers, the "under-served population" in their midst, too long unacknowledged and, in fact, totally abandoned.

Set up pools of emergency funds of various kinds, which At-Risk Graduates and Alums can apply to draw upon when faced with clear financial disaster, like the loss of their homes or lack of money for such "frills" as food, heat, electricity, and the like. Preferably, set up these pools of funds as low-interest loan programs, akin to student loans - albeit perhaps better managed.

*** Set up additional programs to deal with medical or dental emergencies: Top-tier universities boast some of the finest medical and dental schools in the world. Low-cost or free programs providing medical or dental care have long been available to "under-served populations" located geographically close to our alma maters, but not actually connected with them. Yet ironically, such programs have not yet been made available to destitute or struggling At-Risk Graduates and Alums. We need to correct this imbalance right now.

And it might also be worthwhile to set up emergency housing programs for "Best and Brightest" graduates on the brink of homelessness - perhaps on campuses themselves.


*** Get At-Risk Graduates and Alums back to work: Of course, when the emergency stage is past, the best thing top-tier schools can do for their At-Risk Graduates and Alums is to get them - every one of them - back working productively and earning enough money, if not to thrive, at least to survive.

Do so in creative ways, showing that top-tier universities deserve their status as bastions of innovation in political and economic policy and far-reaching social programs.

We have started to discuss some creative forms of job creation in our Bring Back the Meritocracy! project, still in its initial stages.

For instance, we are calling for the formation of one or more for-profit Peace Corps-like entities, tasked with matching the superb pool of the "Highly-Educated But Under-Employed" with all those "unmet need" development projects at home and abroad - in infrastructure, manufacturing, education, healthcare, and social services - which everyone always talks about, but no one does very much to implement.

Very soon, we hope to have a concrete agenda for re-launching the kinds of venture capital funds which existed just a few short years ago: focusing not on uneducated teenagers with catchy software apps, but rather on experienced entrepreneurs in the prime of their lives, many over age 50 and from top-tier university backgrounds.

Not only do we expect these kinds of new-old - or is it old-new? - funds to be very helpful in getting over-50 founders back on our nation's center stage, we expect them to be both profitable to those who back them and a source of renewed energy and pride among At-Risk Older Alums, especially those from "Best and Brightest" top-tier university backgrounds.


But clearly, our Bring Back the Meritocracy! project is not the only possible "hook" on which to base programs to get our At-Risk Graduates and Alums back earning money and out of crisis mode. We strongly encourage the widest possible discussion of creative and innovative and collaborative ways to get this particular ball rolling.

*** It's crucial to dispel any stigma attached to being "Highly-Educated But Under-Employed" or, more broadly speaking, highly-educated but in financial distress.

At-Risk Graduates and Alums should no longer have to feel that they are somehow unworthy Graduates and Alums, because their pockets are no longer "deep;" because they have somehow failed to "play the game properly;" or because - in a surprising number of cases, which need to be documented via hard-nosed research someday - they have been callously targeted as victims by many kinds of financial predators.

The Administrations and Trustees of top-tier universities need to understand that all the new buildings they're erecting; all the sports and recreation and arts facilities they're touting; or all the endowed professorships and fellowships in the world won't help our alma maters' reputations and standing or earn us public and political support, if we're a few short years away from the possible spectacle of armies of the "Highly-Educated But Under-Employed" haunting the world landscape and proclaiming that the Thugs are, indeed, in charge, while Meritocratic values can no longer prevail.

We urge our beloved alma maters to begin to take action before it's too late. Right now!


Please also see Alma Merit: Meritocracy and Universities

and

On the Lighter Side . . . , a humorous addendum to Alma Merit: Meritocracy and Universities