I e-mailed the magazine:
The arrogance of Mr. Falk's assumption that his daughter's "elite private college" was any better than her black friend's state college was hard to ignore. So was the condescension.
Many of us believe, in fact, that the Ivies and other exclusive private schools are overpriced and overrated--add in snobby and so slanted to the privileged that they are de facto against the underprivileged and you've got schools it's better to steer clear of. Don't be so sure, Mr. Falk, that your daughter made the right decision.
And for the record, excellent educations are available at state colleges and universities. Even at community colleges. It's fine to feel bad for your daughter's African-American friend, but not because the
poor thing is doomed to a state college education.
Falk replied by e-mail that many of the elite colleges are indeed overrated and overpriced, and that his daughter did get accepted into a good state university too. He generously and overgraciously added that he "would have been happy" if she had decided to go there. He's apparently happier that she didn't.
His daughter decided on one of the elite colleges, one with what he called a "gorgeous" campus and "every amenity." The "substantial advantages of these schools is even supported by "a ton of recent research," he wrote, which he supported with a link to a New York Times article. Selected for special praise by Falk are "highly credentialed" teachers, "contacts," and "prestige." The well-known gap between a "highly credentialed" faculty and good teaching went unnoticed, as did the fact that "highly credentialed" professors sometimes never see students at all, and when they do have students, the instructing and grading often is done by teaching assistants.
Instead of challenging any of his own premises, Falk merely stated that all the "substantial advantages" are "undeniably" true. He did see that it was unfair and that it contributed to the "growing gap between classes." And further, that the private colleges may well be "promoting the illusion of diversity" by selecting "minority students who are from upper middle-class families and ignoring the poor." Why this sort of thing should be supported by his daughter's attendance and large chunks of his money he never says, but it appears he values "substantial advantages" over social justice.
His "main point," Falk concluded, was that his daughter had choices about elite colleges that her black friend had never heard of, though surely she'd heard of Harvard and Yale, if not Smith and Wellesley. The African American girl might have been accepted into one of those schools, Falk wrote, if only she had known about them. He seems never to have considered that she may have preferred fitting in better at a fully integrated state university, or more broadly, maybe she just wished to avoid elitist white private schools. Falk, however merely feels sorry for the black girl who had never heard of elite private colleges. "I don't think it's arrogant to be troubled by that."
I replied to Falk's e-mail with another of my own disputing the "substantial advantages" of elite colleges. Yes, your daughter will earn more money and make contacts that will separate her forever from her black friend and the rest of middle America, I wrote, but that seems to me more like a disadvantage than an advantage. "You are troubled by [the black girl's] lack of opportunity, which I applaud you for, but at the same time you assume your daughter's situation is superior--and assuming superiority is the very definition of arrogance.
His daughter decided on one of the elite colleges, one with what he called a "gorgeous" campus and "every amenity." The "substantial advantages of these schools is even supported by "a ton of recent research," he wrote, which he supported with a link to a New York Times article. Selected for special praise by Falk are "highly credentialed" teachers, "contacts," and "prestige." The well-known gap between a "highly credentialed" faculty and good teaching went unnoticed, as did the fact that "highly credentialed" professors sometimes never see students at all, and when they do have students, the instructing and grading often is done by teaching assistants.
Instead of challenging any of his own premises, Falk merely stated that all the "substantial advantages" are "undeniably" true. He did see that it was unfair and that it contributed to the "growing gap between classes." And further, that the private colleges may well be "promoting the illusion of diversity" by selecting "minority students who are from upper middle-class families and ignoring the poor." Why this sort of thing should be supported by his daughter's attendance and large chunks of his money he never says, but it appears he values "substantial advantages" over social justice.
His "main point," Falk concluded, was that his daughter had choices about elite colleges that her black friend had never heard of, though surely she'd heard of Harvard and Yale, if not Smith and Wellesley. The African American girl might have been accepted into one of those schools, Falk wrote, if only she had known about them. He seems never to have considered that she may have preferred fitting in better at a fully integrated state university, or more broadly, maybe she just wished to avoid elitist white private schools. Falk, however merely feels sorry for the black girl who had never heard of elite private colleges. "I don't think it's arrogant to be troubled by that."
I replied to Falk's e-mail with another of my own disputing the "substantial advantages" of elite colleges. Yes, your daughter will earn more money and make contacts that will separate her forever from her black friend and the rest of middle America, I wrote, but that seems to me more like a disadvantage than an advantage. "You are troubled by [the black girl's] lack of opportunity, which I applaud you for, but at the same time you assume your daughter's situation is superior--and assuming superiority is the very definition of arrogance.
I can't be sure this exchange is over, but for the moment, anyway, it seems to be.
