Louis Menand
As we come to the final weeks in the first political science class I have ever taken as a freshman here at the University of Michigan, I find myself thinking about Louis Menand and his theories on education. Menand was born in 1952 and is an American Writer and academic best known for his book “The Metaphysical Club.” He taught political science at MIT and earned a Ph.D from Columbia University in English. Specifically, in the June 6, 2011 New Yorker article when analyzing education, Menand says, “Something is amiss in college education.”
By now, we are all familiar with Menand’s three theories. Briefly, theory #1 says college is a filtering process that serves society by finding academically accomplished students. Next, theory #2 which Menand favors says that college teaches valuable things about the world to people who will soon be immersed in jobs and families that they won’t have time to learn for themselves. Finally, theory # 3 says that college provides specialization for today’s high level jobs for example those in the medical field. As Jane Shaw, a writer reviews these theories she relays to the reader that Menand thinks colleges are not doing a great job with #3. Menand says, “The system appears to be drawing in large numbers of people who have no firm career goals but failing to help them acquire focus.” Shaw ends her article by saying that ”Menand really does not come up with an answer but that possibly his major contribution is to remind us all that we all have different goals and that is why we need a diverse variety of education options.” I agree with this. However, it got me thinking what is the purpose of college? Why am I here and what am I supposed to be doing? Do I have a specific focus?
This then prompted me to think outside the box of all the successful CEO’S around the world who never attended college or dropped out. People like Steve Jobs, Mark Zuckerberg, Bill Gates and Oprah Winfrey just to name a few, never got college degrees yet went on to build businesses that are changing the world. Some of them dropped out for specific reasons as in no money or bad grades, others never stepped foot on campus and made it against all odds. Although they did not receive high education they won the fame that most people with higher education will never get in their whole life.
One such person is a man that most of us might not be in awe of like the big names but we have to respect and that is Tom Monaghan, the past CEO of Domino’s Pizza and a philanthropist. I thought it would be interesting to look at this guy since he is from Ann Arbor, Michigan and part of his signature success was delivering hot and ready pizzas to college campuses like the University of Michigan. And talk about the focus that Menand says is missing in college students today, when you read Monaghan’s life story he had tenacity and a complete inability to ever give up. As James Leonard a writer for the Ann Arbor Observer and author of Monaghan’s biography, “Living the Faith says, “Monaghan was never not going to be a success.” He had incredible drive and an unwavering work ethic. Some say his life reads like a Charles Dicken’s novel. When he was four years old his father died on Christmas Eve. The family struggled and his mother who only made $21 a week is unable to raise him. She puts him and his brother in an orphanage and they are bounced around to different foster homes. He had a rebellious streak. His mother tries to take Monaghan back in her home after six years but cannot handle raising him. He goes back to the orphanage and is under the care of the Felician Sisters of Livonia. They instill in him a firm sense of Catholic devotion, so much so that he thought about becoming a priest but due to persistent rule breaking this does not happen and he is devastated. He finishes high school in Ypsilanti, last in his class. Meaning to join the Army he enlisted by accident with the Marines and later drops out.
Tom Monaghan
“Though my status was lowly, I could build empires in my mind and imagine myself as wealthy and successful” ( Tom Monaghan).
Monaghan’s dream was to go to the University of Michigan to study architecture but he could not get in. He then goes to Ferris State College and finally gets accepted to U of M but he cannot afford books and eventually drops out.
In 1960, Tom Monaghan and his brother James took out a loan for $500 and bought DomiNick’s a pizzeria in Ypsilanti, Michigan. James left the business a year later and renamed it Domino’s Pizza Inc. Pumped up by its’ “30 Minutes or It’s Free “ delivery campaign of the 80’s and 90’s, Domino’s opened franchises around the world. Monaghan had a strong work ethic and an intense desire to make something of his life. He liked being referred to as,”The Pizza Guy.” This focus and energy led him to the creation of the second largest pizza chain behind Pizza Hut. Monaghan was an innovator in the pizza industry developing dough trays the corrugated pizza box which was insulated for transport and developed a unique franchise enabling managers to be franchisees.
“I think people are at their best ......when they love their work” (Tom Monaghan).
In the 1980’ s, Domino’s had phenomenal growth to one billion dollars and three years later he hit two billion dollars and closed out the decade with five thousand locations. Also, Monaghan went on to buy the Detroit Tigers in 1983, a boyhood dream and they won the World Series in 1984. In 1998, he retired and sold Domino’s to a private investment firm, Bain capital for a reported one billion dollars. He then dedicated himself to his Catholic roots by establishing catholic colleges and universities known by the name of “Ava Maria.” The Ava Maria School of Law opened in Ann Arbor, Michigan in 2000 but later moved to Naples, Florida in 2009. The political theorists we have studied this semester would be so proud of Monaghan’s loyalty to his religious vision and the dedicated citizen he became.
So what did I learn from all this? The success of a person does not depend on how many books he has studied. Colleges are getting so hard to get into now financially and academically that we might be missing out on some incredible people with amazing talent. If you want to achieve success, you have to learn how to survive in society, how to adapt in society and how to catch some opportunities and to win respect. Do you agree? I think the best education is to keep investing in myself. I can relate to Menand’s theories better now that I am finishing my first semester as well as to the flaws he sees in colleges. My goal will be to incorporate a piece of each of his theories into my own education here at U of M. You cannot guarantee success just by following the rules though. You learn by doing, whether it be flipping pizzas or getting the most out of your classes and your experience. Menand seems to imply that today’s colleges are lacking in supporting a student to find his or her center. How about you, have you found what is at your core? I see the value of a college education. I know it will give me access to a wide variety of subjects, and the experience on the campus alone will transform me. Studies say, without a college degree I will earn less, be more likely to be unemployed and will have fewer opportunities to advance in my career. But, while I am in college, I am going to allow myself time to take in my surroundings, be analytical and philosophical and above all enjoy the journey. I have faith that through this focus I too will find my passion. I think our founding fathers of political theory would be proud, don’t you?
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