During the conversation with Peter Bing, we asked him
whether he had any suggestions on ways to increase the number of humanities
students at Stanford. Quite surprisingly, Peter Bing said that he would not
give any suggestions. Explaining, he talked about the "Holy Triad of
universities", three areas that the university should have full autonomy
over: who is admitted, what they are taught, and who teaches. Peter Bing
explains that he believes people like him should stop commenting on such
issues, and that he should allow the faculty to make their own decisions and
judgments.
I found that to be a pretty interesting thought. I felt that
it was human nature for people to want to speak their mind and let their
opinions be heard. Well, even Jerry Yang, member of the Board of Trustees, joked
that he "likes to tell Coach Shaw what to do next week". Furthermore,
a comment would only be a comment; it did not mean that the suggestions have to
be implemented, so that would not directly violate the Holy Triads. I thought
that it showed remarkable restraint on Peter Bing's part, and it also showed
his absolute belief of the necessity in giving the university complete autonomy
in deciding certain matters.
No comments:
Post a Comment