A Community of Thinkers

So I think I have arrived at some words that maybe capture what I think has been forgotten in many important corners of the University of Alberta, a post-secondary institution with which I have deep connections.

As a university, our function and purpose in society is to be a Community of Thinkers. And the key word here is COMMUNITY.

We are meant to be our society's "skunk works". A critical mass of people, each releasing ideas instead of neutrons to trigger the next burst. A giant mental mulch pile. A place specifically designed and supported because we don't know what might come out of it, grow from it, rise up from it.

And maybe that's why it seems so dangerous to some.

We are not a conveyor belt spitting out workers. This is not about efficient manufacture of product.

This is why there is tenure, problematic in some ways though it may be, and why the shift to sessional staff and precarious academia is so problematic.

This is why the full scope of human thought needs to be represented. This is why we need undergraduate students and graduate students and professors and librarians and administrative staff wandering the same halls.

This is why tuition cost and accessibility matters. This is why equity, diversity, and inclusivity matters. The community of thinkers needs to be diverse.

This is why historical buildings matter, because of what it represents in the community and to the community, not just its functional economic value.

And this is why the support staff are not their job tasks, they are also part of the community, not part of a machine.

No, the university is no utopia, nor is it "better" than other parts of society. Yup, the Ivory Tower is a thing.

Which only means we keep trying to make it better, not burn it down or turn it into something it was never meant to be.

I for one stand with my community and for my community... the community of thinkers that our society and our humanity still needs.

And to paraphrase one of my Captains, maybe I will be on the losing side, definitely not convinced it's the wrong one.