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from Natural Life magazine, March/April
2009
U of Free
by Kevin Bottero and Tess
Duitschaever
The
University of Toronto’s advertising slogan—“Great Minds for Your Great Future”—
follows students as they walk through campus, popping up on signposts,
buildings, and internet terminals. Rushing past the “my future” logo on their
way to class, most students don’t consider the overt marketing campaign that the
institution employs, perhaps because, like other effective slogans, it makes the
consumer feel good. By evoking the school’s prestigious image, U of T becomes
the gatekeeper to the brand of person you want to be, the brand of future you
desire.
Analogous to
pharmaceutical companies pushing their latest lifestyle drug, universities work
hard to plug their educational brand. Competition among universities for
enrolment is transforming their admissions departments into marketing
departments. The rampant growth of consumer culture has, inevitably, infused
education. Students shop around for schools, bargain for marks, hire people to
write their essays and watch their shared campus spaces turn into corporate
funded commons. Luckily, alternatives exist for those unwilling to settle for....
To read the rest of
this article,
please purchase the relevant back issue. To read more articles like
this, please
subscribe to Natural Life Magazine.
Kevin Bottero and Tess Duitschaever edit for The Mindful Word, a journal of
engaged living. Visit its website at
www.themindfulword.org
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