<p>Unless by “every once in a while” you mean “very often”, you will find that I am already doing what you would like me to do.</p>
<p>But on a serious note, this is where you and I differ. I love Michigan. In fact, I have routinely aggressively pushed for Michigan candidates over the typical Harvard and Princeton candidates at my workplace all else being equal, and I have encouraged other alumni to do so. But that does not mean that I will ignore facts and shortcomings of the school just because of my love for it. In fact, I will constantly harp on it until something changes.</p>
<p>These are the things I constantly blast the university for, and rightfully so:</p>
<p>1) Weaker student body relative to what people here consider as peers of Michigan</p>
<p>People like Alexandre like to call Duke, Penn, Chicago etc our peers, and have claimed that schools like Vandy are not even on par with Michigan. If that’s the case, we are definitely under-performing in attracting students of the same caliber that attend the peers or even the ones that are “not on par” with us. Either that or maybe we need to recalibrate what we consider as peers.</p>
<p>2) Racist agenda when the people of the state have already voice their opinion otherwise</p>
<p>Repeated use of resources to align with its desire to maintain racist affirmative action policies, while the state of michigan, via ballot, already decided that they want no part of this racist practice. I consistently disagree with Coleman’s dog and pony tricks to circumvent laws to continue this unethical behavior. Not to mention this practice harms us in the context of my point number 1 in many ways, including
a) consistent admission of underqualified URM, especially from inner detroit
b) taking away scholarship that could be offered to the 4.0/2300 kid because they want to offer it as a “diversity scholarship”</p>
<p>In addition, the costly legal process associated with “defending the university’s right to practice affirmative action” using tuition/donation money. People always forget what the supreme court case is about. It’s not about whether affirmative action is constitutional or not (obviously unconstitutional but who cares right? ;), but whether the state via referendum blocking the university’s practice of affirmative action is constitutional or not. Why are they even fighting that? The people of the state of Michigan already voiced their opinion via the ballot that they don’t want to be associated with this unethical practice, so whether or not they can legally block the university in doing so is irrelevant given how many people here on CC claims the university’s goal should be to serve the residents of the state.</p>
<p>3) Misuse of resources while asking for more
This is more of a general problem with the non-profit education sector than just Michigan. This is what happens with private companies. When they need to improve their bottom line, they look at both the top line and bottom line. They think of ways to raise additional cash, but also ways to save cash in the operations. This is why the private sector is so much more efficient and far superior to anything from the public sector. When the university needs money, it just asks for more, in the form of tuition raises or donations; because it can.</p>
<p>4) Monetization of Brand
All the one year masters popping up here and there are complete rip-offs for student. The latest example being the new masters in management program. It was obvious that it was designed to monetize the Ross brand. There is a reason why top MBA programs don’t accept fresh grads but require work experiences.
a) The value of an MBA is the networking, not really the knowledge gained. A fresh grad has no tangible value to incentivise other people to network with them
b) Fresh grads out of MBA price themselves out of jobs. No company is going to pay to upcharge to get the fresh grad
This MiM, just like the one Fuqua and UVA offer, is pretty pointless. From a hirer’s perspective, there’s no reason for me (or people recruiting for similar employer) to aggressively recruit that program. We joke about programs like these all the time.
So now you have this degree that’s basically for people without the experience to get into an MBA program to take on more debt and pay 50k a year to get. It’s taking advantage of the most vulnerable: the people who are not good enough to obtain fruitful employment in business/finance straight out of undergrad. This is in line with what a lot of university tries to sell, “oh you couldn’t find a job you like? educate yourself more and you’ll eventually find it”, when in fact the right answer is “oh you couldn’t find a job you like? tough luck… keep trying, and if you still can’t find it? take whatever job you can get and work your way up!”. This is borderline predatory.</p>
<p>5) Brady Hoke
Enough said.</p>
<p>This is where your comparison with Drew Sharp falls apart. My disagreement with the university is well-defined and based on facts. In addition, my disagreement with the university is in areas where the university is not doing well judged by facts and observable data points.</p>
<p>Drew Sharp’s beef with the university is personal. He was ****ed because Rich Rod made information readily available to the general press as opposed to Lloyd Carr’s “fort” mentality where he just leaks exactly what he wants to leak to select few in the media. Drew basically lost his exclusive access by virtue of everyone gaining access. And then obviously he started the whole practicegate crap and got himself in hot water with the athletic department even till now. That’s why he’s still holding a grudge.</p>