The Brian Mulroney Institute of Government Distinguished Speakers Series Presents
What Is a University? And Why Should Governments, Professors, and the Public Care?
Leo Groarke, Professor, Trent University
Thursday, January 30, 2025
7:00 pm-9:00 pm AST
Mulroney Hall 2032
These are turbulent times for universities. From a budget point of view, federal and provincial political decisions have created a perfect fiscal storm. Around the world, political debates about universities have been fuelled by university protests and responses to them. In academe and the public media, commentators argue about diversity, “cancel culture,” and academic freedom. In the United States, President Trump has vowed to change universities, claiming that they have been infiltrated by “radicals, zealots and Marxists.”
The upheaval that characterizes universities today make this a good time to reflect on universities and their purpose. Established universities cling to the idea that they are extensions of their storied pasts, but the missions of most universities have been radically transformed in recent decades. The distinction between left- and right-wing politics is a crude one in a post-modern world, but it is helpful to say that universities have been pushed by both sides of this divide.
On the right, universities have been pushed to be (and have to some extent become): (i) businesses designed to train students for jobs in the current labour market, (ii) engines of technical innovation that will (it is hoped) yield economic benefits, and (iii) institutions designed to serve the political goals of their government masters. On the left, universities have been pushed to be (and to some extent have become): (i) institutions that rethink their ties to donors and corporations, (ii) managed in ways that favour “progressive” politics, and (iii) institutions that make political activism an essential (some would say the most essential) element of what they do.
Though Dr. Groarke acknowledges that both agendas underscore important elements of what a university should be, he believes that they threaten to make universities institutions that serve short- term political goals in ways that raise questions about their long-term sustainability. Dr. Groarke argues for a third, more Kantian, alternative, suggesting that universities should be regarded as “ends in themselves,” not only as tools that have immediate utilitarian value. This talk will explore what this might mean and argue that such a view can better serve long rather than short-term utilitarian ends.
Within the discussion, Dr. Groarke will share some telling examples of what is wrong with the current approaches to universities gleaned from his own experiences. Dr. Groarke will explore these questions in light of his decades of experience as Professor, Dean, Vice-President Academic, and as the President of Trent University for ten years.
The talk will be followed by a Q&A.
All are welcome.
