“If you can’t read, it’s going to be hard to realize dreams.”
—Booker T. Washington
Dedicated in 1922, the Booker T. Washington Monument,“Lifting the Veil” (pictured above), is located in the center of the institution of higher learning that he helped to found--Tuskegee University. The inscription at the base of the monument reads: “He lifted the veil of ignorance from his people and pointed the way to progress through education and industry.”
One of Washington’s guiding beliefs was that economic independence was earned through self-help, hard work and access to a quality education. I believe that this belief is as true now as it was then--perhaps more so. As noted by former Harvard University president and now Obama economic advisor Lawrence H. Summers when giving a commencement speech about the importance of education, “A fair chance and an unfettered start in the race of life is at the heart of the American Dream.”
And so it is.
But what does it mean to “lift the veil” of ignorance today?
What does it mean to “progress through education” today?
These are the essential questions that I intend to explore in this blog.
Along the way, I hope to facilitate thought, ideas and discussion. I do not promise answers (in fact, I will probably ask far more questions), but I do have a point of view, a point of view that I look forward to sharing with all of you, wherever you are and whomever you are, as I explore what we must do, individually and institutionally, to lift the veil of ignorance and to prepare this and future generations of students to compete and succeed in the global economy 21st century.
One of Washington’s guiding beliefs was that economic independence was earned through self-help, hard work and access to a quality education. I believe that this belief is as true now as it was then--perhaps more so. As noted by former Harvard University president and now Obama economic advisor Lawrence H. Summers when giving a commencement speech about the importance of education, “A fair chance and an unfettered start in the race of life is at the heart of the American Dream.”
And so it is.
But what does it mean to “lift the veil” of ignorance today?
What does it mean to “progress through education” today?
These are the essential questions that I intend to explore in this blog.
Along the way, I hope to facilitate thought, ideas and discussion. I do not promise answers (in fact, I will probably ask far more questions), but I do have a point of view, a point of view that I look forward to sharing with all of you, wherever you are and whomever you are, as I explore what we must do, individually and institutionally, to lift the veil of ignorance and to prepare this and future generations of students to compete and succeed in the global economy 21st century.
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