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Here’s a question for you: Can you name a class that gave its students extra credit for hopping on the Red Line and going to the federal courthouse to attend trials on landmark affirmative action cases? Deconstructing the Ivory Tower: A Critical Perspective on Universities did just that! The ExCollege course was co-taught by Jessica Pesce and Kate Drizos Cavell last fall, and it was certainly a unique experience for Tufts undergrads.
Pictured above: Former Tufts Provost and Professor, Sol Gittleman, meets with students in Deconstructing the Ivory Tower. Photograph by Max Lalanne.
Both Pesce and Cavell are former Jumbos (A’08 and A’06 respectively), with years of experience in the higher education system and in college administration, notably at Harvard, where they are both working now. It was there that they first met while receiving their Masters in Higher Education, and they’ve been bonding over their shared ties to — and love for — Tufts for the past eight years.
As an undergraduate on the Hill, Cavell actually worked at the ExCollege, which she said quickly evolved from what seemed to be a “nice on-campus job” to “my home at Tufts.” That positive experience — as well as the encouragement of former assistant director Cindy Stewart, former director Robyn Gittleman, and current director Howard Woolf — led her to her current career. As for Pesce, she earned her MA in Classical Archaeology at Tufts, a stepping stone in a long line of academic achievements that also led her to studies at Boston College, Brown, and Harvard, as well as to teaching at Boston University. She said that Kate’s suggestion of pitching this class to the ExCollege seemed like a perfect fit. Sometimes, things really do come full circle.
When I asked the two about last semester's class, I wondered what exactly a “critical perspective” on higher education meant in the context of a university setting. It turns out that students are actually in the perfect position to learn and analyze the “history and purposes of higher education in America,” as Pesce put it, as well as think deeply about the future of colleges and universities’ purposes and roles. Although there are certainly many students at Tufts who are deeply involved — and often critical — of the administration that’s running four of what could be the most important years of their lives, many more are unaware of the complexities, details, and purposes of their university and others, as well as the roles they themselves can play in this system. Cavell noted, “initially, American colleges were for white males who were mostly going to become ministers. We’re a long way from that today, but still far from removing barriers and opening the doors to everyone.” This class is definitely a good start — after all, you can’t open doors if you don’t have a key.
The class was a mix of history — studying the background and development of the different types of colleges and how those evolved with the changing times — that tied in with vigorous debate about modern-day examples (such as the courthouse visits). This helped students better situate their burgeoning opinions in both past and present. Alex Demircan, a senior, said that it was “really remarkable how historical lessons usually evolved into contemporary conversations.” When I asked him why he took the class, he said that both as a senior and an American History major, he was still woefully uneducated on the function of universities and the roles they’ve played in U.S. society and culture. On the other end of the spectrum, you have a student like Jacqueline Chen, also a senior. Chen, who was the TCU Senate President last semester, said she “noticed a lot of problems at Tufts that seemed to be emblematic of larger trends in higher education” and that she took this class to learn more about “higher education’s evolution and how we got to this point.”
Pictured above: Tufts University President, Anthony Monaco, visited the course in December. Photograph by Max Lalanne.
Who better to learn from than Pesce and Cavell, both deeply entrenched in higher education’s present and future? They had some help over the semester, however, from a litany of former and current Tufts administrators, who came to the class as guest speakers, an invaluable opportunity that Cavell deemed a “gift.” That list included the much-beloved former Provost and Professor Sol Gittleman, Dean of Student Affairs Mary Pat McMahon, and President Anthony Monaco — who stopped by one evening, in true Monaco fashion, on his way to cheer on a Tufts basketball game. Jessica said that their perspectives helped students “understand the complexities of these positions and the kinds of options senior leaders weigh when making decisions,” as well as helping to “humanize the administration.” At the end of the day, she said, “While imperfect, our system is unique in the world. Higher ed has the power to transform students' lives, provided we can do our best to make it open to all.”
As Cavell summed up, “If you want to improve something, first you have to understand it.”
About the Author
Max Lalanne is a senior majoring in Film & Media Studies. Born in Paris and raised in New Hampshire, when he's not writing for The ExPress, he's running his own daily newsletter, News in French. He plans to continue a career in media and publishing.
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