Page 35 - Considering College

People

The first cause of all action at every University should be students, their aspirations and their
needs. On campus, we frequently think of people as faculty, students and staff, and to be sure they

are the people of the University. However behind these people are family, communities, elected
and appointed officials that along with the University serve students. For many reasons large

organizations, public and private, become fixated on process as a means to fairness, equity and
legitimacy. When the purpose of any organization evolves to a place where a commitment to
people is superseded by a commitment to process many negative consequences follow. It is the

nature of bureaucracies to become self-perpetuating. The road to hell is paved with good
intentions. No bureaucracy in public service or private enterprise ever starts out as anything but a

step towards fairness and excellence. Yet, time and power jointly contrive to pollute legitimate
ordering principles. Under these conditions, bureaucracy produces neither equity

nor excellence. Process must serve people rather than the other way round.

When considering college:

-Find a place to study that pays more attention to people than procedures or policies. Patton

Springs, Texas

-Look for an institution that caters to student and family concerns, that are not overridden by an
attitude from the university perceived to be, “Don’t worry, we know what’s best.” Higher

education is serious, it is expensive, and it is personal. Childress, Texas.

- People in a community working together lead to a productive society and noble citizenship.
This is the most important part of any educational experience, in any place, at any level, for any
cost. I found over and over again that schools serving smaller communities in the far reaches of

the Panhandle and the South Plains tend to model robust citizenship: they are potboilers of
American republicanism. Cotton Center, Texas