From the Director: On Competition

As the college admissions scandal highlights the increasingly competitive and evolving process of entry into higher education, how do we view a role for competition at USN?
by Vince Durnan, director
 
Welcome back all. Now for the sprint through spring. It feels odd not to mention, as we return, the college admissions scandal that commanded so much media attention during our hiatus. There's a distantly related topic I'd planned for this column, perhaps as a counterpoint, so thanks in advance for bearing with that segue when it comes.
 
On the admission to college mess, complete with indictments timed to just precede the impending April 1 traditional notification day for applicants, it strikes me that there are two stories in play. First is the more salacious, tabloid-type embarrassment associated with the fraud committed by coaches, test proctors, parents, and the handler who brought them together in facilitation of a crime. 
 
The high prestige, high net worth nature of those unsettling deeds creates a car wreck that draws us in as gawkers even though it affects very few of us in a material way. But the relative ease with which it all happened and the presumption that somehow no one would ever know does provide wider cause for concern. It all paints a picture of indifference at well-respected institutions (albeit very few, barring the emergence of several such rings) that we'd like to think have procedures in place to preclude bad apples from profiting personally at the expense of their university's reputation and credibility for the long haul. That part still amazes me-- the hardened, self-fixated silos that can exist in higher education.
 
More relevant to the rest of us in the K-12 world is the second story, the one about desperately unscrupulous families willing to do anything to guarantee an opportunity for their child, a quest played out against a backdrop of preferential admission practices and broader competition for the golden tickets offered by the most selective colleges. And one layer deeper is the question of fairness raised by those preferences (most visibly for children of alumni/ae, or for talented athletes, or for potential big donors, or for those from historically under-represented backgrounds). And in truth, we at USN experience some of those same pressures, in pursuit of creating the best kind of school community for the best kind of future for our school. And we walk those lines with great care, always focused on the child, taking innumerable variables into account, accountable for the messages we send by our decisions.
 
The result of this scarcity problem, whether locally or nationally, is families sometimes looking for the recipe or the angle to open doors for their children, and at a basic level it's understandable.  In a corresponding way, my own fundamental responsibility is to help keep as many doors open as possible for our graduates, AND THEN to have helped them be as prepared as possible for success once they walk through those doors. Therein sits an important difference — we strive not to be a snowplow school or a helicopter school but to find our students' capacity to build and manage their sense of purpose. We face the challenge every day to do all we can to keep that commitment, to strike that balance.
 
The current college admissions moment is spawning a cottage industry in warning about over-parenting. Check former Stanford University Dean of Freshmen Julie Lythcott-Haims, who spoke In Nashville just this fall, and see what I mean. It remains to be seen how families will respond, how the rosters for specialized sports leagues and test tutoring and overseas internships will be affected, if it all, given the fact that the rest of the admissions system seems locked in current patterns. The fact is, competition remains intense, now with an added layer of reason for cynicism. 
 
Looking for the prime mover in the whole frenzied sequence leads back in large measure to our national fixation on rankings, starting with the U.S. News version. Malcolm Gladwell's 2015 David and Goliath provides a response of sorts and is well worth a read. Meanwhile, we'll stay focused on doing right by our students for the near term and for the lives they will lead beyond Edgehill, beyond college, proud as we are of our list every year.
 
And lest this sound like a naive idealistic pledge, here comes the segue: as it turns out, competition is not a bad word at USN. We don't name a valedictorian or rank our students by GPA or post an honor roll, but we watch them compete, excel, and learn from those experiences on a nearly constant basis. Look no further than the HS Mock Trial team, winners in the Nashville district and busy throughout the break, then all through this past weekend, going against the best in the state. They got no academic credit or grades for this effort, underway since November two nights a week. They didn't win but they did us proud — very proud.
 
Or look at our LS chess team, also competing last weekend and winning a state title. Or The MS/HS Junior Classical League squads that won the region title, or the HS Science Olympiad advancing to state competition, or the HS History Bowl team that qualified for nationals. If you've read this far, you probably also saw the write ups for each of these accomplishments in prior publications. And of course the seemingly innumerable Tiger athletic teams, with our MS boys in particular having a sterling run through three seasons so far. 
 
The point, just to be the apostle of the obvious, is that we see a role for competition as a means for learning and growth, not as a means to an end or a way to leave others behind. If fact, when I ask our seniors if USN is competitive, the overwhelming response is a strong "yes," and when I follow up and ask who makes it so (the school, people at home, society), the next answer is "we do, it comes from inside us," or something very close to those words. And that, in the face of all the underwhelming developments in the sorting mechanisms we've created, gives me hope.
 
Let's keep working together for their benefit,
Vince
Back

More USN News

List of 3 news stories.

Archive

Contact

Edgehill Campus
2000 Edgehill Ave.
Nashville, TN 37212

Phone:  615-321-8000
Fax:       615-321-0889 
Email:    info@usn.org

River Campus
1200 County Hospital Road
Nashville, TN 37218

Resources

USN Mission: 
University School of Nashville models the best educational practices. In an environment that represents the cultural and ethnic composition of Metropolitan Nashville, USN fosters each student’s intellectual, artistic, and athletic potential, valuing and inspiring integrity, creative expression, a love of learning, and the pursuit of excellence.