Star Tribune op-ed previews Institute conversation on student debt
Ahead of leading the St. Olaf College Institute for Freedom & Community’s October 20 virtual conversation with Elizabeth Shermer, Professor of Music Justin Merritt wrote an op-ed for the Star Tribune making the case that the lending bubble has produced the national student debt crisis.
Merritt, a member of the Director’s Council of the Institute for Freedom & Community, will host Shermer for an event titled “Indentured Students — Higher Ed and the Student Loan Crisis.” Shermer is a history professor at Loyola University Chicago who teaches courses on labor, capitalism, and politics. She has written about those topics in op-eds, academic articles, and scholarly books, including Sunbelt Capitalism, The Right and Labor, and Indentured Students.
St. Olaf is one of a select number of institutions across the country that meets the full demonstrated financial need of all admitted students. More information on the College’s commitment to making education affordable is available here.
Shermer’s conversation with the St. Olaf community is part of the Institute for Freedom & Community’s fall theme on “Capitalism, Freedom, and Community.” It will begin at 7 p.m. and will be streamed live and archived online. Registration is encouraged but not required.
The Institute for Freedom & Community’s fall series will conclude with a conversation on November 3 with Georgetown University Professor of History Michael Kazin on “Moral Capitalism in the Democratic Party.”
Established at St. Olaf in 2014, the Institute for Freedom & Community encourages free inquiry and meaningful debate of important political and social issues among students, faculty, and the general public. To that end, the Institute sponsors a range of programming opportunities, in addition to the lecture series, to further cultivate civil discourse within the context of the liberal arts. Subscribe to the Institute’s YouTube channel, follow the Institute on Twitter, or sign up for the quarterly newsletter to receive regular updates and information about Institute programming.