“To Call Outright For A Radical Union, And To Then Reduce Education To A “Service” Is Beyond Jarring.”LTE

A chairde,

I was disappointed to hear the capitalistic ideals presented by the VP Education candidates in the interview published over the weekend. Particularly disappointing is that they were introduced by Cal Walsh, amidst a slew of more radical buzzwords. For Cal to refer to people power movements, to the fight for material conditions, to the bread and circuses approach of the university, to call outright for a radical union, and to then reduce education to a “service” is beyond jarring. Education is crucial to the justice they claim to espouse, is imperative to enabling the subjugated to free themselves, and I find it deeply concerning that a Philosophy and Sociology student would fail to recognise this, instead arguing that we deserve accessible education if and because we pay for it. The portrayal of lecturers as our adversarial employees rather than our colleagues and allies is distressing, as is the repeated emphasis on the fact that “we pay their wages”. Are SUSI recipients not to have their voices heard, then? Are we to follow in the footsteps of the USA, turning our universities into factories that churn out degrees for the highest bidder? I am deeply concerned by the idea of a VP Education who is complicit in the commercialisation of education, but it seems that, this year, we have no choice.

Yours, etc—

Disillusioned MU Student.

Read Cal Walsh’s reply here.