There's a counter-argument to be made, Spencer, that treating students like consumers is the error that the academy made. I'm not the first one to make it (Bret Stephens published an Op-Ed in the NYTimes yesterday, if you're interested: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2024/07/31/opinion/markets-education-media.html?unlocked_article_code=1._k0.Wib0.0DaMz2YbfIt9&smid=url-share)

Students are the "consumers" of education, of course, but 40% of our students arrive on campus not knowing what they want to do. One might think that a market response would be to increase choice, not shrink it.

But I'm not arguing for market forces as the arbiter of the structure and functioning of a university. There are values that are not quantifiable or commercial, and you have them too: friendship, love, family, faith, community, ethics, etc. The list is pretty long. I'd prefer a national discourse about the things we value and what education should be, not unexamined responses to fiscal crises and student demand--and "creative destruction." We might arrive at the same place, but we'd be better for the way we got there.

Happy to have connected with you, my friend. All the best.