December 13, 2008
SITBB Vault: What's Next for the Junior Senator from Illinois?
| Well, I think we all now know the answer to that question in the title that I posed in December of 2004. What a blast from the past--and what a difference four years makes. Of course, folks in higher education are still hoping that President-elect Obama's ties to and high regard for education will translate to good things for this particular segment of our national economy. For example, a recent IHE opinion piece begins, "In forming a strategy to deal with the severe economic downturn, President-elect Obama and his evolving brain trust of economic advisers should recall the largely successful and innovative efforts by federal and state governments to avoid a projected steep post-World War II recession — in particular, the key role given to higher education."
I am sure the P-E has higher education on his list of priorities, though perhaps somewhere after conflict in the Middle East and the national and global economy. And the new puppy. :-) |
Sen. Obama is all over the place these days. A naughty punch line on Will and Grace. A Newsweek cover story with the title "The Audacity of Hope." A million plus three-book deal. He's the "Patron Saint" of the famous blog, Daily Kos.
Of course, part of the talk is presidential in nature. The Senator, apparently, is Mr. October, 2008 on a "Countdown to 2008" calendar. You can even buy Obama for President (unofficial) campaign gear at one site. (Also see this site.)
But one of the most interesting things about Obama for me is his background as a scholar. A recent Black Issues in Higher Education interview [now Diverse Issues in Higher Education] contains the following exchange:
BI: How have your experiences as a law professor shaped your public policy positions on higher education? As a political leader?BO: Obviously as somebody who sees young people on a regular basis, I am greatly encouraged by the seriousness and hard work that young people are willing to put in. They're hungry to get education, and everywhere I go I meet young people with the will and the drive, and the desire to go to college, but often times they lack (the) money.
And I think as a professor myself, I'm painfully aware of the barriers that a lot of young people still experience going to college, and also recognize the value of higher education because ...I've had the opportunity that I have. I'm not someone who comes from a wealthy family, and I wouldn't be in a position to do the kind of work that I do had it not been for the generosity of the broader society. I want to make sure we pass that generosity on to the next generation.
In terms of my position as a politician, or policy-maker, one of the things that an effective professor learns is how to present both sides of an argument. If you're a good professor, and you're not somebody who is only teaching the things you believe, you're also teaching things that other people believe but you may disagree about.
And I think that being able to see all sides of an issue, having been trained in presenting all sides of an issue in the classroom, actually helps me question my own assumptions and helps me empathize with people who don't agree with me.
Right now I'm about a third of the way through the 2004 re-release of Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance. This book is also widely discussed around the 'net and in the blogosphere. But to my eyes, it is an adoption memoir in many ways: loss, reclaiming, singularity, being rootless, search for authenticity, questions around naming, issues of loyalty and betrayal...
This is a very engaging, very unique, but at the same time, a very familiar story. A family story. I can't wait until this book starts appearing on college course syllabi--It definitely should be on the syllabi in family science courses. I can't wait to see how academics relate and react to one of their own making good and making noise inside the Beltway.
I suspect many of us will adopt a kind of "ownership pose" toward Sen. Obama, similar to the way many academics claimed Paul Wellstone. I suspect many of us will react the way some of his kinsfolk in Kenya did, who expect Obama to now gift them with all sorts of schools, money, and opportunity. Will Obama bless us, his "academic tribesmen"? Will he help all sorts of higher education funding legislation go through? Will he confront the opinions of a larger public that often mistrusts anyone who comes across as "elite" or well-educated?
It's hard to say, although plenty of people are busy speculating.
I guess the real question is less what is next for Barack Obama, and more what is next for those of us in higher ed who have recently--like most of the rest of the nation--"discovered" him. How will we deal with our own "issues"--of loss, authenticity, loyalty and the like--as we see them reflected in the junior senator?
I don't know, but in the meanwhile I'm busy reading. Page 106. A young Barry as an undergrad...
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