It is universally acknowledged that American universities have long valued alumni and their wallets. Anything that would enable an alumnus to maintain his or her ‘university spirit’ everywhere, our universities want to facilitate that. In the digital era though one need not rely just on a glossy magazine or coffee mugs or memories of a lecture heard thirty years ago. If Standford was off the block quickly with its recent pioneering deal with iTunes to podcast lectures publicly (but primarily for alumni consumption), Chicago and other universities are also not lagging behind.
Even as we wait for lectures to be podcasted, look at the University of Chicago’s new web initiative Mind Online.
Mind Online presents a collection of thought-provoking samples from the University’s intellectual life, both past and present. Critical thinking and lively debate are at the center of a Chicago education and continue to engage alumni after they leave campus.
So it’s not merely alumni email accounts (well, email forwarding services to be accurate), but actually chicago spirit embodied virtually. Look at Common Text for instance, which is an initiative to discuss a text for a year. Or Faculty on the Road or Free Lecture Series or even Study Trips led by distinguished faculty. So we can now go beyond alumni hanging out in different cities and reminiscing about their time in Chicago.
Education, we are told, is a life long quest. So is paying our dues (read: tuition), even if the bills come in different garbs.
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