To the Editor:
I recently attended one of the last events in the Navigating Rensselaer and Beyond program; the event was called “Making College Count.” I attended because of the small mystery this event had generated: notices that at certain dates boxes would be received, followed by phone calls, all seemingly very secretive. Upon hearing of the mystique surrounding the event, I became curious, and desired to see what was planned for “Making College Count.”
What I found changed my understanding of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute far more powerfully than the news of the RIAA lawsuits, or the lack of parking on campus. What I found was a sales pitch. I suppose I should have known that the only thing capable of generating the kind of mystique surrounding “Making College Count” is a sales pitch, complete with product endorsements and brand-name sponsorships. I would like to congratulate the speaker on an excellent performance; everything she said was acted just so to achieve the desired effect on her audience.
Yes, our beloved ’Tute sold us freshmen out—rather than compiling its own presentation on how to make the most of college and thereby succeed later in life, RPI accepted the offer of a coalition of corporations with products ranging from candy to shampoo to job-finding services to make the presentation. The difference is simple: the aim of those corporations was to help RPI students only where it would make them money, and perhaps sell some candy along the way.
It was not until the morning after the presentation that I realized that was the very aim of RPI itself.
Victor Parkinson
PHYS ’07
