CITY DYNAMICS : Universities Shouldn’t Remain Above the Fray

Universities are among the few remaining credible institutions in America. Most other institutions--government, business, religion--are suffering through a crisis of legitimacy. This is important for cities, for membership in organizations that used to dominate civic culture is down. As a result, “civic culture” is more debated than lived. In such circumstances, universities should play a greater and more active role in helping cities solve their problems.

The linkage between higher education and policy goes back to the New Deal, when Harvard professors could board an evening train in Boston and wake up refreshed in the national city of Washington the next morning, ready to engage in public enterprise. Although the distance was perfect for Harvard, it was quite formidable for universities whose professors had to catch trains in the middle of the night, or take days to go and come. Once the Boston-Washington link was established, Harvard faculty put generation after generation of students on it, with many of the best and brightest at the university and elsewhere entering public service because of the enthusiasm and commitment of their teachers.

In the 1970s, when schools of public policy sprang up, confidence in government’s ability to solve problems grew, especially if those in government were better trained at making decisions. Today, such confidence is virtually depleted, and the resulting skepticism has spread to other institutions. It is here that higher education--as an institution--could act as the link to all these institutions, including government.

Can the 20-odd institutions in the Los Angeles area--which employ 58,000 people and enroll almost half-a-million students--work together, and, if so, could they work with those outside the world of higher education? What kind of a resource could colleges and universities be? If they were drafted into more active service, would Los Angeles benefit from the relationship at the expense of the universities’ credibility?

There is a history to the relationship. The University of Southern California, partly because it is more centrally located and partly because its School of Public Administration was one of the first in the nation when it was established in 1929, has trained a major portion of the city’s employees. Indeed, until affirmative action became city policy, one could even speak of an “old-boy highway” between USC and City Hall.

UCLA grew in different directions, although one of its chancellors, Franklin D. Murphy, did as much as any city leader to put Los Angeles--as a cultural, artistic and education center--on the world map. Indeed, through fund-raising, recruitment of leaders and the construction of new centers of learning and culture, Murphy helped instill in the city a sense of self-esteem.

Another UCLA contribution is the training and encouragement the university has given students who have returned to their communities and now staff most of their social-service agencies. The Urban Planning Department, which was recently folded into the School of Public Policy, continues to be an influence in city planning and housing.

But the potential for a more expansive relationship between City Hall and the universities that surround it remains unexplored. Recently, state Sen. Tom Hayden, chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Higher Education, called together a number of higher-education experts for a hearing on the topic. They complained about ill-trained entering students. They talked about service internships that enhance both the education of students and the organizations and communities they help. They praised outreach of faculty to poor neighborhoods, most notably USC’s Neighborhood Scholars Program, which guarantees full tuition to high school students who complete the weekend tutoring program. Also, there is UCLA’s Community Scholars Program, which identifies leaders in local communities and exposes them to the university--and the university to them--in an effort to enhance their work and benefit from their experience.

UCLA’s new School of Public Policy and Social Research, along with its two outreach programs--the Policy Forum and the Advanced Public Service Institute--are specific efforts to get involved in the Los Angeles community and build bridges between the university’s strength in scholarship and the community’s need for expertise.

Higher education is a major asset in any community’s life. Its mission of education and research is critical in a changing economic environment. It is every bit as critical in a changing society. Public universities, particularly, are the gates through which hopes for middle-class success must pass.

Still, there are dangers confronting the university as institutions in taking up a more activist role in a city’s life, because part of its credibility stems from its perceived position above the fray. Higher education has always served the established interests of government and business by training leaders and doing research. But it now needs to use its credibility as a mediator--not just as a trainer of mediators. It needs to be more forceful in trumpeting its relevant research to public decision-makers, because knowledge is critical in a changing technological environment.

Universities grew out of the church, the previous repository of past knowledge. But they developed into something more than mere curators of past culture and knowledge--they became the bridge to the future, which is why a capacity for leadership was always as important a qualification as intellect when it came to enrollment, as advocates of affirmative action have long contended. They must never abandon that role, as unpopular as it may become.

If universities need to be of the world as much as in the world, they must open up their cloistered environment with caution. They must be aware that academic answers to social problems, especially, are drawn from theories that can help explain our environment, but do not necessarily predict the future. Practitioners, on the other hand, respond to what fits in a particular situation, at a particular time and place. If the two approaches to problem-solving are to be effectively melded, it will help to learn each other’s language and understand each other’s situation. It will certainly help to recognize that there is a significant difference between the way these two worlds think.

Still, it is appropriate that the higher education system in Los Angeles--in every urban environment, for that matter--turn its face toward its community. It is inconceivable that any community, especially any major city, will survive unless it has the enhanced ability to draw on universities for training and knowledge. It is also inconceivable that higher education, from community colleges to universities, will not step forward to explore more ways of participating in the world surrounding it, even though it ultimately must fall to others to implement new ideas and create the consensus necessary for a prosperous society.*