Online University Classes

Due to the coronavirus pandemic most Universities are also moving to online classes. There is general consensus that such classes are not equal to face-to-face class room lectures but they are the best to be done now. In spite of this instruction transition, University tuitions remain the same. Certainly online classes give students a diminished college experience and they are not receiving full value for their money. Now students and parents are asking that Universities make some tuition adjustments since their education appears to be no more than casual Skype sessions. Some Universities have indeed implemented some small reductions in tuitions but most resist doing so. Many even offer the argument that remote learning increases their costs. I realize that a fine balance must be found between student cost and school survival but pricing should always reflect the quality of what you are buying. Right now the student is being short changed in terms of his/her actual college experience and the cost of it.

Georgetown University

The Jesuits initially secured the future of the Catholic institution known as Georgetown University by operating tobacco farms in Maryland by using slave labor. At that time no religious denomination considered it immoral to own or trade in slaves. There probably were some men of the cloth who preached at times against that practice but it was a legal activity. By 1838 the farm operations no longer generated sufficient funds to fund the University and it had accumulate a large debt. The Jesuit Elders decided to clear the debt by selling their 272 slaves to a plantation owners in Louisiana. That was done and in the process families were separated and since many had become Catholics they were no longer able to follow their religion. Such historical flash backs remind me how slowly the fight for human equality moves and how much opposition it always faces!