Anyone familiar with the numerous and sometimes tedious works of Karl Marx has come across his theory of surplus value, which says that under capitalism, the task of upper management is to find surplus values to exploit. When he formulated it, Marx was probably thinking about some obscure nineteenth-century English wool trader. But the theory could equally well be applied to the University's administration, which is as exploitative as any at a contemporary institution. For example, the University cannot pay a living wage to its employees, but it can build luxurious new dorms for those privileged youth whose parents can afford out-of-state tuition.
The sickness of our times is that we try to squeeze every resource dry of monetary gain; in this way the University has transformed the so-called useless and wasted space of the University Chapel into an auxiliary building for the admissions department. I am referring to the tours and information sessions scheduled in the House of God. Students seeking quiet and space for reflection find themselves surrounded by anxious parents and whiney kids asking about SATs and tuition.
This makes clear the fact that the University is not interested in growing its students as full human beings but as future managers.
Evan Knappenberger \nFmr. Member of Occupy Charlottesville
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