In the documentary ‘Zeitgeist Addendum,’ Jacque Fresco says, ‘A Church divided is no church at all.’

Albeit the following is about neither religion nor the church, the preceding quote touches upon a very important point of division amongst supposedly unified organizations. Amidst all of the publications, speculations and interpretations of the institution of higher education and its perceived purpose of uniting the future generation of America, the separation it causes is undeniably perceivable to the enlightened individual.

Step right up and take your pick. There is everything you could ever hope for at your one-stop institution of higher education. There is almost every science you can think of. Engineering, it’s here in multitudes. Liberal arts allow for the freedoms of expression and business is just as cut and paste as it needs to be. But wait a minute; everyone has their own interests so they should be able to pursue whatever they wish, right?

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True enough, having a variety of disciplines to choose from is always a benefit to the individual. However, that very variety tends to shift more into a shortened fast track to a future J.O.B. (Just Over Broke) that prefers to take in the individual with this ‘particular’ skill set. Once you hit those major classes, all sense of creativity and open mindedness is out the window.

So who’s to blame in all this? Is it the person who chooses their major based on their primary interest? Is it the parent who pushes their son or daughter to go to med school? Or is it the high school guidance counselor?

And the answer is:

All of the above.

How so?

Think about it.

Society tells you that you must complete this particular course of action to be somebody in the world. That course often includes going to college, getting good grades and getting a J.O.B. This is how you reach the ‘American Dream.’

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Sound familiar to anyone?

Sounds like something I have heard before. The problem lies within the very framework of this system. When you think of the best way, historically, to divide a population, what do you do? Put them into different categories and begin to raise the question of which category is more important to others. The institution we take part in does this on a macro and a micro level.

The macro level is rather obvious where you have the college of science, college of business, college of liberal arts and the list goes on. The micro level occurs within each college. Biology vs. chemistry, marketing vs. finance and psychology vs. art are all examples of this division.

So where does the solution lie?

The solution lies with the professors of course.

Professors have the power to teach their particular class however they would like. As the times change and new information is learned, the professor is charged with the duty to change with the times as well. It is always useful to encourage thinking outside of the box and take on an interdisciplinary approach to learning. This gives the student the opportunity to reach out to other people in other professions that they normally would not.

Division is a tool of the enemy. Unifying the colleges can unite the world. Divide and conquer, or unify to unite? You decide.

Flowers is a senior studying political science.