The Beloit college list illuminates the differences between university faculty and college students yearly. The list focuses on the their differences in historical experiences and technological familiarity, in addition to others.
Today's students are not old enough to remember the Kennedy assassination, nor the struggles for racial and sexual equality. Dr. Kincaid was stating during an interview her thoughts regarding students ignorance of the Kennedy assassination. To her, the Kennedy assassination was a dramatic event similar to the destruction of the World Trade Center in 2001. She said , “[When I heard about the assassination,] I began to wonder what was going to happen to the nation. We, [as nation,] were scared” (Kincaid). Dr. Kincaid told about her amazement when she learned that students did not understand these feelings that she had. When one experiences something like the assassination, the emotions and thoughts associated with that experience seem natural – like anyone and everyone should have them. Today's college students know nothing of these feelings and not much more about the actual event. Many students must wonder at the feelings of Dr. Kincaid regarding the Kennedy assassination.
The Beloit list states, “[College students may have the opinion that] altar girls have never been a big deal” (Troop). University faculty, however, can remember the struggles for equality, both racial and sexual. Students and possibly some younger faculty do not remember the old feminist struggles. Faculty around the age of sixty remember that a woman's place used to be “in the home.” Students do not understand the struggles that women endured to make the political, economical, and social changes necessary for women's status today. The struggle for racial equality may cause a greater spark among faculty born in the fifties and sixties, for Martin Luther King Jr. had to make some impact on a part of today's university faculty. Hopefully, today's faculty appreciate equality more than college students do. On the other hand, the university faculty that King did not impact may be more inclined to have lingering prejudice towards African-American students – at least in the South. Contemporary students grew up in a diverse world. Almost all southern college students went to high schools in which a substantial percentage of students were African-American; therefore, those students have learned to accept people with racial and cultural differences.
Additionally, college students today may not appreciate luxury items as much as professors do. The experiences of the older generations – primarily the lack of luxury items (for example one publication stated, “Faculty members born before 1980 (and who didn't live in Seattle) remember a world without Starbucks, in which people made their own coffee each morning. In those days, tap water was potable and "barista" was not yet a word typically spoken outside of Italy” (Krajewski). Today's students have had an easier life. They received many toys as a child, the newest and best technology such as cellphones and computers, video games, and many other such things. Dr Kincaid worries about students not appreciating today's products (Kincaid).
As stated earlier, many college professors did not have access to computers, cellphones, video games, and the internet; therefore, students may not understand when teachers refer to “outdated” things activities like using a library or tuning a radio. Furthermore, professors may not understand the values of new technology. For example, many professors do not allow calculators in mathematics classes. While this policy has some value, it has many drawbacks also. Students must learn to use technology such as calculators to continue to be competitive in the ever-changing world of today.
In conclusion, differences between the historical experiences and technological familiarity of students versus that of university faculty can cause a miscommunication both inside and outside the classroom.
Krajewski, Bruce. “The 2011 Mind-Set of Faculty (Born Before 1980)”. August 21, 2011. The Chronicle. <http://chronicle.com/article/The-2011-Mind-Set-of-Faculty/128705/>
Troop, Don. “The Beloit College Mind-Set List Welcomes the 'Internet Class'”. August 23, 2011. The Chronicle. <http://chronicle.com/article/The-Beloit-College-Mind-Set/128783/>
Dr. Kincaid, Debe. Personal Interview. September 1, 2011
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