In the shadow of the Ivory Tower: how universities are plundering our cities By Davarian L. Baldwin
Published March 2021.
The book I’m talking about with my higher ad network is by Davarian L. Baldwin In the shadow of the Ivory Tower. Baldwin, a professor of American Studies at Trinity College, wrote a devastating critique of the urban university.
Contrary to conventional knowledge that universities are universally positive on the local net, Baldwin has made a case that higher education institutions often do as much harm as they do to improve embedded communities.
Baldwin’s argument about the problematic relationship between residential and urban universities is based on several case studies. The book includes Trinity (Hartford), Yale (New Haven), U.S. Off Chicago (South Side of Chicago), NYU and Columbia (NYC), and ASU (Downtown Phoenix Campus) have deep chapters. Higher education students will learn a lot about the institutional history, growth and challenges of these universities in all these chapters.
Baldwin explores three different urban / gown themes. The first is the history of urban universities that have tried (or expanded) to distance themselves from the low-income and largely black population of the urban corps they live in.
Acknowledging the recent trend among university leaders to embrace urban community / campus connections, Baldwin concludes that rhetoric and work rarely come together. According to him, schools in rich cities continue to create physical and cultural barriers between themselves and the communities in which they are located.
The second theme Baldwin identifies as common in wealthy universities in ethnically and economically diverse cities is the ever-present danger of decency. Universities rarely prioritize the construction of funds or low-income housing for non-students, non-faculty or non-staff (everyone else) in their capital budgets.
As urban universities expand into their cities, local rents inevitably rise and the supply of affordable housing decreases. Family-run businesses, some of which have existed for decades, can no longer afford the rising rents. Minority-owned stores and restaurants are replaced by corporate chain providers.
Increasing university policing in areas adjacent to the university is a third issue that has been explored In the shadow of the Ivory Tower. In an effort to combat the fear of crime among students, parents and university staff, a handful of urban schools have expanded policing capabilities. University police are gaining the power to make arrests not only in the center of traditional campuses, but also in the blocks where students live or where universities have expanded their office space.
Although extended patrols are welcomed by some neighborhoods, there is also the idea that campus police can be heavy-handed and deaf-mute when communicating with community members.
In the shadow of the Ivory Tower A book I would like to discuss in higher version with my friends. This is one of the books that goes against what I often think and understand about the role of universities in society.
Before reading if you had asked me about the impact of urban universities on their city In the shadow of the Ivory Tower, I must give an enthusiastic appraisal. I would tell you that universities bring vibrancy, jobs and culture to their places of residence.
Of course, I will probably mention concerns about the potential negative impact of nonprofit schools exempt from property and other taxes on local revenue and services. I would argue, however, that the loss of some tax dollars is almost always entirely exacerbated by the local benefits that universities bring.
Now I’m not so sure. Not that I totally agree In the shadow of the Ivory Tower. I think the book would have been more powerful if it had explored more fully the positive and negative aspects of urban universities in university cities.
Still, this book raises questions about some of my basic assumptions.
I want to learn more.
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