The American Campus as an "Academical Village"

"Campus sums up the distinctive physical qualities of the American college, but also its integrity as a self-contained community and its architectural expression of educational and social ideals." -Paul Turner in The American Campus as an "Academical Village"

     Besides just this quote, I liked a lot of what Paul Turner was saying and what it reveals about the character of America.  I hadn't thought about the way colleges are set up in America versus other countries until reading this.  After visiting and touring multiple colleges in the past year, it is interesting to think about this idea of college campuses as individual cities and communities.  I remember commenting that the University of Minnesota is its own city after visiting it last fall, but every college really is its own community and world.  As a body of students, professors, and faculty, we abide by a code, so to speak.  This is why we can go without professors proctoring exams, mailboxes with locks, etc.  We elect our own hall council and live by similar "social ideals" like Turner talks about.  We coexist in a community in order to further the knowledge and education we have at the moment.  This is occurring on thousands of campuses around the country.  The fact that we, as Americans, set up our campuses in a way that we live together in order to learn shows the value that we give education and the independence we emphasize in our culture.  For a certain amount of time, and often for the rest of life, people devote all their time and energy solely to learning.  We emphasize how important it is to better yourself and advance your education so that you can be successful on the road ahead.  It is a part of our character as Americans to be educated in order to be an individual and have the ability to achieve that American Dream and exercise the freedoms that we have.  This stands at the core of being American and millions of us live it everyday.