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Monday, October 3, 2011

A Quick Bit on Nancy Cantor and The Relationship Between Inclusion and Standards | The Jose Vilson

A Quick Bit on Nancy Cantor and The Relationship Between Inclusion and Standards | The Jose Vilson:

A Quick Bit on Nancy Cantor and The Relationship Between Inclusion and Standards

First, read this article. Check this excerpt:

Since she took over at the university seven years ago, the institution has spent tens of millions of dollars—and attracted much more—to revitalize this sagging Rust Belt city. It has helped refurbish parks, taken over an abandoned building where drug dealers once grew marijuana, and turned an old furniture warehouse into a new home for academic programs in art, drama, and fashion design. The university is encouraging professors to focus their research on the city, while giving free tuition to local high-school graduates.

Ms. Cantor talks about the institution as a “public good,” not an ivory tower. But some professors here say she has spent too little time and money on what goes on inside the university’s classrooms, laboratories, and libraries where traditional education and scholarship take place. Before she came, they say, Syracuse was on the way to becoming a more selective university that competed with some of the nation’s best private urban institutions. Now, the chancellor seems