Comments on: The legacy of Henry Bienen: prosperity, not diversity

By: Janel M

Janel M — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 00:26:15 +0000

Squash You said,
obviously you’re missing the point of having diversity on campus. It’s certainly not “just for the sake of fulfilling any quotas.” It’s about the fact that if NU is to be a truly innovative institution that prepares its students for the world, it needs to be representative of the diversity in the world. The fact of the matter is that NU gives need based financial aid, not merit. If this decision were left up to the financial aid department alone, it would still be unfair, not necessarily due to NU’s admissions policies, but other things that promote inequality, like the resources and info about NU available to certain groups. And about the whole baseball thing. It’s not about “mandatory” requirements for the second time! Perhaps Commisioner Selig should implement more programs that actively recruit from a wider pool. It could make the game more interesting.

By: Squash You

Squash You — Wed, 07 May 2008 21:17:45 +0000

so Bienen enjoys a sport, and that sport happens to be stereotypically viewed as being enjoyed by affluent east coasters. fine, nail Bienen to the cross for trying to take time out of his schedule ONCE a week to get out on the court to do something healthy he enjoys? I for one am happy that Northwestern’s president ENJOYS DOING WHAT HE ENJOYS DOING once in a while. At least fault him for legitimate reasons re: Azn American studies.

(fyi, 4 of the world’s top 10 squash players happpen to be egyptian while pakistan and india continue to turn out dominant players. just take a look at Northwestern’s Squash Team if you want to see ‘diversity’ at its finest)

As to “Northwestern’s failing black enrollment which has nearly halved since 1976.” Should it be the University’s responsibility to bring in black or any other ethnically diverse student JUST FOR THE SAKE OF BRINGING THEM IN TO FULFILL SOME PERCENTAGE QUOTA IN ORDER TO LOOK GOOD? Hows about leaving it up to the admissions office to determine who should get in based on merit and not ethnicity. The number of African-Americans who play Major League Baseball has been dropping for years. You don’t see Commissioner Selig instituting mandatory diversity requirements on team rosters.

By: David S.

David S. — Wed, 07 May 2008 06:58:38 +0000

Many of the positives you mention have little to no bearing on students’ experiences at NU. US News rankings are a dubious measure of institutional quality and have no impact on our college experience (except perhaps to make us feel better about ourselves). There’s no question that the university has gone from exorbitantly to unbelievably rich under Dr. Bienen’s tenure, but again, how much of that money goes back to students (for example, cutting class sizes, offering more, better classes and improving student services)? It seems that the funding boost has done little besides improve our prestige. New and bigger buildings don’t in themselves translate into better educations, either. The bottom line: Money and prestige are continually prioritized over students’ interests. And while I’m glad you brought up our troublesome lack of racial diversity, let’s not forget the even more problematic lack of socioeconomic diversity. This homogeneity inhibits the student experience tremendously.

By: Ben

Ben — Wed, 07 May 2008 03:01:41 +0000

I find this article impressive. Not in its well reasoned and even handed reporting, but in the fact that rather than actually find things Bienen hasn’t done well, the author preferred to spout their Midwestern bias. That section makes the rest of the article seem childish, not that the snarky tone of the entire thing wasn’t already ridiculous.

By: JW

JW — Wed, 07 May 2008 02:39:17 +0000

You forgot to mention the fact that without Bienen, our athletic program would be nowhere near where it currently is. You can choose to say that our basketball team is poor, and that our football team could be better, but the truth is, whereas peer institutions spend copious amounts of money on research etc., Bienen has still found room for athletics, allowing us to compete in the Big Ten; this is a major attraction for students.