A different kind of democratization
When reading Maggie Liu’s article entitled “College admissions is no scam — just reflection of socioeconomic disparity” from the January 20 issue of <i>The Tech</i>, I got the impression that the writer, like many others before her, seems to be of the opinion that education, regardless of being superior or inferior, fundamentally shapes individuals rather than being in many respects shaped by them. College students, regardless of their prior education and social conditions can equally benefit when democracy is infused in the process of receiving and exchanging knowledge in and outside of the class rooms. Nowadays, when the issue of democracy and higher education is brought up, it usually alludes to extending social justice and providing access to higher education for those groups in society that are disadvantaged due to lingering discrimination based on color of skin or national origin, among others, or due to lack of financial means. Even though this is still an ongoing situation, institutions of higher education like Northeastern University have been taking measures to combat the issue by providing financial aid and promoting affirmative action and diversity. Ironically, these same measures are now being blamed for having lowered the standards of higher education. I, however, have a different take on having these two concepts, democracy and education. I believe they form a complementary rather than opposing or antithetical relationship.