The New York Times has visited Charlottesville and Chilhowie, Va. — Chilhowie, for those not lucky enough to have visited SW Virginia, is a small mill town not far from Bristol — as part of its ongoing “Class Matters” exploration of America’s class divide. Writer David Leonhardt provides a sympathetic portrait of a college drop-out Andy Blevins, who works at a supermarket warehouse, using Blevins to illustrate the factors that work against upward economic mobility for working-class youth. The great barrier today, according to the Times, is getting that college degree.
Of special interest to Bacon’s Rebellion readers are the observations of University of Virginia President John T. Casteen III, who, after years of favoring legacies (to help with fund-raising) and minorities (to correct historical injustices) seems to have awaken to the plight of the white working class. Sayeth the Times:
“The system makes a false promise to students,” said [Casteen], himself the son of a Virginia shipyard worker. Colleges … present themselves as meritocracies in which academic ability and hard work are always rewarded. In fact, he said, many working-class students face obstacles they cannot overcome on their own. …
No flagship state university has a smaller proportion of low-income students than Virginia. Just 8 percent of undergraduates last year came from families in the bottom half of the income distribution, down from 11 percent a decade ago. That change sneaked up on him, Mr. Casteen said, and he has spent a good part of the last year trying to prevent it from becoming part of his legacy. …
Like Virginia, a handful of other colleges are not only increasing financial aid but also promising to give weight to economic class in granting admissions. They say they want to make an effort to admit more low-income students, just as they now do for minorities and children of alumni.
(Thanks to Joyce Dodd for bringing this article to my attention.)